


Open Arms and Open Eyes

by Draconicmaw



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Blind Character, Blind!Yugi, Blindness, M/M, Major Character Injury, Post-Canon, rivalshipping - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-03-19 21:31:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 30,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18978745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draconicmaw/pseuds/Draconicmaw
Summary: Rivalshipping, post-canon, blind!Yugi.The game shop burns down, and the caustic chemicals created by the fire permanently blind Yugi. Though Yugi may never be able to see ever again, Seto Kaiba finds his own eyes opening in ways he had never previously imagined.Rating likely to go up.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This will probably end up being a shorter story, no more than 6 or 7 chapters. Also, this is a bit of a shorter beginning chapter, but it was a good place to stop, I think. I love this pairing, and I hope you guys will enjoy reading this as much as I will writing it. The rating is bound to go up, too.

File cabinets opened and slammed shut. Where is it? He’d ask his secretary, but she was long gone for the night.

The swish of a white coat gleaming silver in the moonlight pouring through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Polished black shoes clicked to the other side of the room.

He’d find it, and then he would go home.

* * *

Yugi always had a sensitive nose. Traces of acrid stench curled their way through his nasal passages. It woke him up.

He blinked up at the ceiling. Then jolted.

Smoke.

As if on cue, the shrill, ringing cry of the fire alarms split the quiet night.

“Grandpa!” he called, bolted for the door.

* * *

He settled at his desk, thumbed through the document. He was often ridiculed for having physical backups of all existing KaibaCorp paperwork, but, for instances like this, they paid off.

The other businessmen could ridicule him all they want, but he’d only listen on the day their net-worth became higher than his own.

“Hmph.” When pigs fly.

* * *

Yugi wrapped his hand in a shirt before he touched the door knob. The door swung open, and smoke poured into his bedroom like a sigh of death. He dashed back, unplugged his beat-up phone and dialed.

* * *

The whine of the zipper seemed so loud in his quiet office. He slung his laptop bag over his shoulder. He didn’t look back when he walked out.

* * *

 

He crawled to Grandpa’s door. Smoke was filling the place up fast. No matter what anyone said, his first priority was getting the old man out.

Games and cards could be replaced.

Grandpa couldn’t.

Yugi pounded on the door.

“Grandpa!”

“Yugi…?” the sleepy reply came.

“You have to get up! There’s a fire somewhere.” He didn’t check. It didn’t matter. Time was limited, and they needed to get out.

Shuffling, and the door was open.

Yugi stood and lurched forward. He held the shirt in his hand over Grandpa’s mouth.

“I’m getting you out of here, Gramps.”

* * *

The headlights flashed momentarily, and the mechanical chirp echoed in the parking garage. He tossed the laptop bag onto the seat next to him and started the car. He hummed along with its quiet purr. He pulled out of the complex and onto the quiet streets of Domino City.

* * *

Sugoroku Muto was slow and plodding in his old age. Yugi was all but dragging him down the hallway. Smoke billowed up the stairs. It clung to the ceiling, an undulating sea of black and grey.

Yugi’s eyes stung horribly. Tears trekked down his face.

“Grandpa, close your eyes!” He said.

They moved closer to the stairs. The roar of flames became audible. Yugi’s heart pounded in his chest. When they reached the top of the steps, the warm, insidious glow of fire illuminated them.

* * *

He saw the flashing red lights far up the road. With a grumble, he pulled over to the shoulder. A fire truck screeched past. The cry of the sirens made his ears ache.

Only idiots managed to burn their houses down this late at night.

* * *

Every second they took to get down the stairs made Yugi sweat. The stinging in his eyes turned into a painful burning sensation. His face was wet with tears and perspiration. His vision swam.

“C’mon, Grandpa. Two more stairs.”

When they reached the bottom, Yugi began dragging Sugoroku towards the door.

The heat was blistering.

Something above them groaned.

Yugi lunged to the side just as a flaming piece of ceiling crashed down. It grazed Yugi’s side, and he cried out in pain. He hurriedly yanked off his smoldering pajama shirt.

“Yugi!”

“I’m fine! Keep going!”

He could hear the sirens. He grabbed Grandpa’s arm again, looped it over his shoulder. Adrenaline coursed through him, and he used the dizzying pulse of energy to carry his grandfather the rest of the way to the door. Yugi blindly groped for the knob. At the same moment, the door yanked open.

Help had arrived.

* * *

He quietly ambled through the manor to his bedroom. All was silent in the Kaiba household. He scrubbed his hand on his face.

What a long day.

* * *

They immediately packed them up into an ambulance and sent them to the hospital.

Yugi couldn’t blink the blur and sting of tears from his eyes.

He had a burn on his right side. He bit back the pain when they set to treating it right away.

“Grandpa…” he rasped, throat ravaged by smoke.

“He’s fine, young man. You got him out of there in the nick of time,” the EMT said. Yugi tried looking at her face. She was just a smear of skin. She cursed, and suddenly she said, “Mr. Muto, I’m going to have to ask you to keep your eyes open. I’m going to wash them out with water.”

“O-Okay.”

* * *

 

Kaiba finally settled down for sleep.

* * *

The flames stained the night red and orange. It seemed that no amount of water could fight back the ravenous inferno.

By the time the sun rose, the Kame Game Shop was no more.


	2. Chapter 2

Seto was in the kitchen pouring himself a second cup of coffee when Mokuba came dashing in, a lanky blur of dark hair and sun-bronzed skin.

"Seto!"

Seto arched a brow. "Mokuba."

"Did you hear?!" he asked, skidding to a stop. Apparently reaching eighteen years old didn't mellow him out quite like it had to Seto at that age.

"Hear what," Seto replied drolly.

"Yugi's in the hospital!"

Seto blinked. "What?"

Mokuba nodded fervently. "Yeah! The Game Shop burned down, too! There's nothing but ashes, now."

Red flashing lights and the wails of sirens.

Seto set the coffee pot back into the machine. "Which hospital?"

"Ours. I'm going to go visit him later," Mokuba chattered. "Joey said he got burned pretty bad on one side. Got some smoke in his eyes, too."

"Hn," Seto grunted, took a long sip of his coffee as he stared up at the skylight. He actually had to visit some of the upper-tier administrators at Kaiba Hospital that day.

"His grandpa got out relatively unscathed, though." He rifled around in the fruit basket. "It's just like Yugi to put everyone else before himself, even if it means he's gonna get hurt."

Seto only blinked, grunted, and thought about how he would bear any amount of scar tissue for Mokuba.

* * *

The heels of his polished shoes clicked on the white tile. The acrid tinge of sterilizers gnawed at Kaiba's lungs and nasal passages.

He hated hospitals.

Even if he owned the damn thing.

Doctor Eve Grimes gestured lazily as she expounded on the technological problems the hospital currently endured.

"Now, the tech is amazing. Don't get me wrong. And yes, at the time of its construction, this building was state-of-the-art.  _But_ , it's now falling behind. The facilities simply can't support the technology we're being supplied. The circuitry in this place is straining enough to meet our demands as it is. We're either going to need some major renovations or a complete rebuild if we want to implement the sort of equipment you're planning on bringing into here."

Kaiba's eyebrow twitched. "Renovations would mean shutting down entire wings to get the wiring up to date."

Doctor Grimes nodded. "Yes. But I'm not sure we can afford that. We nearly reach capacity as it is, and closing off that much of the hospital might mean turning away patients."

"I won't allow that to happen."

She smiled, kind. "I'm glad I work under you now, Mister Kaiba. Your father never would have cared about the wellbeing of our patients if it didn't make him any money."

"Don't bother comparing me to Gozaburo. I'm nothing like him."

She smirked, lifted a single finger, "Ah, but I was not 'comparing' you. I was contrasting you."

Kaiba rolled his eyes, lip twitching up.

They passed into another wing. Doctor Grimes bid him farewell and handed him off to a technician. They discussed KaibaCorp's new x-ray machines, and the younger man led Kaiba down the hall to inspect the aforementioned technology. Even from the corner, he could hear that damn annoying voice, loud and boisterous in the solemn atmosphere.

"Wheeler," he growled under his breath. What the hell was he doing here?

Mokuba's words from earlier echoed back to him.

Yugi.

"Woah. So you're saying they're gonna try to use skin from other parts of his body to patch up his burns? That's crazy."

A lower voice, quiet enough that Kaiba couldn't make out the exact words.

A skin graft. Not that that idiot would know the fucking term.

Kaiba passed the door. A glance.

Sugoroku Muto and Joseph Wheeler sat in armchairs. Two beds, one empty, one with an unconscious Yugi Muto. His face was bandaged. His eyes were covered by the white wraps. The heart monitor beeped steadily beside him.

Kaiba didn't actively swallow, but he felt his throat clench and his Adam's apple bob.

He kept walking.

* * *

Mokuba frowned down at his plate. He picked at his salad. Seto stared at him over the rim of his wine glass.

"Not hungry?" Seto asked.

Mokuba shrugged, poked at a cherry tomato with his fork. "Not really."

"Hn." Seto remained quiet. He didn't have to prod much - if at all - before Mokuba would spill what was on his mind.

Mokuba sighed.

Seto slanted a glance up at him before returning to cutting his chicken.

"It just sucks," Mokuba blurted.

Seto's eyebrows shot up. "Dinner? Or is it some other matter you haven't clued me into yet?"

Mokuba set his fork down, shook his head. His long black hair swayed. "No, what happened to Yugi."

The beeping of a heart monitor blipped through the back of Seto's mind. "Hn."

Mokuba's eyes glistened. Even at eighteen, he was still tender-hearted. "They'd don't have a home anymore. Everything they owned was in that game shop. Sugoroku's staying with Joey, but… still…" He sighed again. "He says that insurance company isn't willing to cover  _anything_."

Seto's brows furrowed. "Really?"

Another shake of the head. "Nothing. They barely investigated the house before they said that the Mutos were to blame for the fire. They won't be receiving anything."

Seto remembered blue summer skies, a tiny hand in his own, staring at the foreboding building before them as they were abandoned forever.

No where to go. That sounded familiar.

* * *

A week later, Yugi was still in KaibaCorp hospital. Every day, Kaiba walked by the door. Sometimes, voices echoed from within. Other times, it was silent, save for Yugi's quiet shuffling and the consistent beeping of the heart monitor. Still, bandages wrapped his head.

Kaiba paused by the threshold. It was quiet in the room. He peered in.

The other bed remained empty, but Yugi sat up in his. Wires twined down from the sides of his head. Earbuds. His breathing was gentle and regular, but the occasional thrumming of his fingers alluded to his wakefulness.

Kaiba blinked, looked down the hallway. He was early, anyways. He crossed the threshold, knocked on the open door.

Yugi's head jerked, whipped toward the sound. He popped an ear bud out. "Grandpa?" The depth of his voice startled Kaiba.

"Not quite."

Though Kaiba couldn't see Yugi's eyes, he saw how his jaw slacked with surprise. "Kaiba?"

"Who else?" He muttered, awkwardly stepped forward, closer to Yugi's bedside.

Yugi chuckled. "I just didn't expect you to be here."

Kaiba knew practically everyone had come to visit Yugi at some point or another. Even Tea took an impromptu flight from the east coast to see her longtime friend.

"Well, this  _is_ my hospital."

Yugi nodded, relaxed back against the inclined hospital mattress. "I know. It  _is_ in the name." He fiddled with something in his hand. It was a beat-up MP3 player. Basically ancient technology. He pulled his other earbud out. "Mokuba said you're working on expansions or improvements or something."

"Hn," Kaiba grunted, looked back at the door.

"How was your day so far?" Yugi asked, not letting the silence stew. Kaiba wondered how long he'd been left alone in this room today.

"Busy. The usual," Kaiba said, he paused a moment and let his eyes linger on the bandages around Yugi's head.

"I bet," Yugi chuckled again. He ran his fingers along the side of his hospital gown repeatedly.

A breath, and the question burst forth. "How long are they going to have that damn bandage over your face?"

Yugi actually laughed a little at that, though it seemed forcibly restrained. Kaiba remembered the burn on his side. "Only a couple more days. They're mostly there to keep my eyes closed. Help heal the damage on my corneas."

Kaiba blinked. Damage on the corneas… "That could cause scarring."

A frown, half-sigh. "Yup."

"How the hell did that happen?" Kaiba asked, a little snappish.

Yugi lifted a shoulder. "The game shop was old. The materials weren't exactly… clean. The smoke created when it was burning was toxic, especially in contact with water."

"Chemical burns…" Kaiba thought aloud. "Did it damage your throat and lungs?"

Yugi shook his head. "Not too badly, all things considered."

"But your grandfather got out relatively unscathed."

Yugi smiled. It was a softly proud smile. "Yeah, I wrapped one of my shirts around his face so he wouldn't inhale any of it."

Kaiba rubbed a hand over his face. He felt more open to express himself physically when Yugi couldn't see him. "You were his eyes." A rumble of frustration lurked in his throat. "You  _knew_."

A sheepish grimace. "I had a hunch. It… stung. A lot."

"Well, yeah! Chemical burns are going to  _sting_ , moron."

Yugi laughed, the guffaws caught between pained whimpers and grimaces, but it didn't hinder his mirth in the slightest.

"I don't know what you're laughing at. You really are an idiot, Yugi." Though the corner of Kaiba's lip twitched up.

Yugi's hands trailed along his gown, along the thin sheet of the bed. "I had to get him out of there." His voice lowered. "He's all I have left." His small fingers twisted into the material. "You would've done the same for Mokuba."

"Hn," Kaiba grunted.

He didn't say it, but Yugi was right.

He would've.

* * *

He had personally put it forth to the staff for Yugi to have more than the maximum number of guests when the time arrived. Still, only a handful could come when his facial bandages were taken off.

Kaiba paused by the doorway. The people within chatted excitedly, and, lost in conversation did not notice him.

His skin prickled, and he backed away. He walked down the hallway.

A few hours later, Kaiba learned, Yugi was scheduled for his reconstructive skin graft surgery, after some preliminary tests for his eyes.

Kaiba didn't sleep well that night.

* * *

He figured, by now, all of the tests results would be back.

Kaiba rapped his knuckles on the open door.

Yugi's head turned, and violet irises locked onto him.

He froze.

Yugi blinked, long and slow. The flesh around his eyes was red and puffy. Kaiba wasn't sure if it was from his injuries, or from crying. Maybe both.

"Who is it?" Yugi asked, voice rough.

Kaiba's stomach dropped to his feet.

"The only one who probably bothers to knock," Kaiba replied, and his tone did not come out as drolly as he was trying to make it sound.

"Oh," Yugi replied. His hands twisted into the sheets, knuckles flashing white. "Kaiba."

Kaiba stood there in the doorway, shifted from one foot to the other. "I hope you're accepting visitors right now. I'd be pretty pissed if I walked all the way here for nothing," Kaiba said.

An opening for Yugi.

But Yugi only chuckled wetly and shook his head. "No, come on in. Be my guest."

"Actually, you're  _my_ guest. So you just invited me to be my own guest in my own hospital," Kaiba said, and he actually moved to sit in the chair by the bed. "You've never made any sense, Yugi."

Yugi's head vaguely followed Kaiba's movements. Kaiba wondered just how much he  _could_ see, or if he was basing it all off his hearing.

"Ah, the smallest details never get passed you, do they?"

Closer, he could  _see_ the damage to Yugi's corneas; the blurred reflection of the fluorescent lights off his violet irises.

"No, they sure as hell don't," Kaiba replied.

A beat of silence.

Kaiba gulped. "How bad is it?"

A shaky exhale. But it seemed that, if there were any tears at all, they would have already been shed. "It's pretty bad. I… I can only see color. It's like looking through fogged glass."

Kaiba rubbed his thumb along the edge of the arm of the chair. "They have surgeries to correct that. You can get a transplant."

Yugi nodded, eyes still lingering on Kaiba. "I know. The doctor told me, but…"

Kaiba shifted, unsettled by that intense, yet vague, stare.

"... that's not the only problem." Yugi's hands twisted the sheets again. "I was exposed long enough that the damage is internal, too. My lenses are deformed." Before Kaiba's mouth could open, Yugi raised a halting hand. "They have implants for that, I know." Yugi's breath was uneven. "But there's nothing they can do about my optic nerve."

Kaiba stiffened.

"They said I'm lucky," Yugi said with a chuckle. "Lucky that I'm not completely blind. They have no idea how the nerve could be damaged in a way that it accepts colors but not images. It just can't interpret the signals anymore, I guess."

"You're permanently blind," Kaiba summarized, mouth dry, amazed by Yugi's composure.

Yugi nodded. "Yup."

"What about your career?" Kaiba immediately asked.

A sad smile. "Guess I can't play card games if I can't see them, huh? Can't really design games very well, either."

Kaiba sat, stunned. His brain just couldn't process this.

Yugi leaned his head back. "You're the first person I've told." Yugi chuckled. "I've been sitting on this for a couple days, but you have impeccable timing, Kaiba."

Kaiba didn't say anything, but his question hung heavily on the air anyways.

"You don't have the time for pity," Yugi explained quietly. "Guess I'm not your rival anymore, though, huh?"


	3. Chapter 3

The cursor on the search bar blinked. Keys clicked.

**Optic nerve repair**

A spinning wheel. Links filled the screen. Clicks of a mouse. Words and pictures flashed across in blacks and whites and medical diagrams.

"Hn."

The cursor on the search bar blinked.

**Experimental treatment for optic nerve damage**

Speculations. Projections. Nothing that could happen now.

The cursor on the search bar blinked.

A pen snapped in a tense hand. Ink blotted on white cloth.

"Fuck."

* * *

 

When Kaiba passed Yugi's room, he heard two voices within.

"Joey, I can't impose on you like that," Yugi insisted. "Grandpa is one thing. I thank you for that. But… I'm a different story. I don't want to put you through that."

"You'll have a nurse. It'll be fine."

Exasperation, tight and tired. "I don't even think I can afford one." A sigh. "I'm not going to allow you to shoulder the burden of both of us."

"Listen, I'm not  _offerin'_ , I'm  _tellin'_ you that you're stayin' with me, Yug'. I can't handle the thought of ya homeless. Okay? You gave me a place when I was in a rough patch. I want to return the favor."

Kaiba kept walking.

* * *

"Seto…" Mokuba began at dinner.

Seto raised a brow. "Mokuba." He chewed slowly on a piece of steak.

"We have a lot of room. A lot of extra space," Mokuba began, words slow and hesitant.

Seto set his fork down. Stared at his plate.

"I mean, we have a bunch of rooms no one even goes in," Mokuba continued, almost ranting. "It's honestly wasteful."

Seto sipped his wine. "Your point?"

Mokuba's shoulders drooped. "Yugi doesn't really have anywhere to go."

"Isn't Wheeler taking them in?" Seto said, monotonous. It barely sounded like a question

"Yeah, but he lives in a one-bedroom apartment! There's barely enough room for  _Joey_ in there, let alone two more people!"

"Mokuba, lower your voice."

"Sorry. I just… I just keep thinking about the orphanage. Those bunk beds."

Seto nodded. He remembered well, if not better. He and Mokuba ended up sharing the cramped top bunk at some point.

"I can't stand the thought of that happening to someone. Especially Yugi. He doesn't deserve it."

Seto thought of that blank violet stare. "It's true that we have more than enough room to take in both Yugi and his grandfather," Seto conceded. "But that doesn't mean he would accept charity from us."  _From me_.

_You don't have time for pity._

Mokuba frowned and fell silent. He knew Seto was right.

Seto looked back down at his plate. He set his fork to the side.

Mokuba prodded some broccoli. "I mean, it doesn't  _have_ to be 'charity,' does it?"

Seto started, looked back up.

Mokuba had a point.

* * *

A nurse was leaving Yugi's room, the door closed, when Kaiba arrived. He tilted his head toward it, eyebrows raised inquisitively.

"He's changing clothes for discharge," she explained. "He'll be pressing his call button when he's done."

Kaiba nodded and stood close to the wall, arms crossed, folder tucked to his side. While he waited, Sugoroku and Joseph Wheeler came ambling down the hall.

He stiffened.

"The hell you doin' here, moneybags?" Wheeler started, already bristled.

Kaiba lazily spun a circle in the air with his hand. "You  _do_ realize this is  _my_ hospital, right? I might have underestimated the level of your stupidity for once."

Wheeler looked close to lunging. Then, his face went blank. "Wait, are you saying you normally overestimate it?"

Kaiba arched a brow. "No. I  _normally_  guess it right on the mark. But, don't get me wrong, the mark is usually very high on the stupidity scale."

A growl, but then the nurse was walking between them. "Excuse me, gentlemen."

Kaiba immediately stepped back, but Wheeler was a bit slower, glaring as he backed away.

The nurse opened the door.

Yugi was sitting on the edge of the bed. He stared at them as they entered. He was wearing a baggy button-up shirt, clearly too big for him, and a similar pair of sweatpants.

Kaiba guessed they belonged to a certain mangy mutt. His eyebrow twitched.

Kaiba glanced at the shirt again and frowned. "Yugi…"

Yugi's eyes blinked wider. "Kaiba?"

"Yugi, your buttons are uneven," Kaiba informed.

Yugi's cheeks blossomed beet red. He grabbed at the hem of his shirt.

"Jesus, Kaiba, way to fucking embarrass him," Wheeler hissed.

Kaiba crossed his arms. "Better to have one of us point it out than to have him walking around like that. Much more embarrassing for him, I would think."

"You're right, Kaiba," Yugi said quietly. "Thank you."

"Hn." Kaiba turned his back, politely looked away so Yugi could adjust his clothing, even if Yugi wouldn't be able to tell either way. "Why didn't you choose a pull-over? A T-shirt or something," he asked gruffly.

"His burn is still healing, moron," Wheeler snapped.

Kaiba rolled his eyes.

Right. The stretch to pull something over his head might have been incredibly painful.

"Joey, don't be so rude," Yugi said. Kaiba could still hear fabric rustling.

Wheeler made an indignant sound, like a child reprimanded. Which was very accurate, Kaiba concluded. "He started it!"

Sugoroku finally chipped in, "Actually, young man,  _you_  started it when you quite rudely asked him 'what the hell are you doing here.'"

Yugi clucked his tongue. "This  _is_ his hospital."

Kaiba snorted. "That's what I told him."

Yugi chuckled, and then there was a beat of silence. "Umm…" Yugi started, sounding sheepish and nervous. "Can someone help me?"

Kaiba looked over his shoulder. Yugi's shirt was correctly buttoned, and he still sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the floor. His face was a vivid red.

"I don't think I can walk out of here on my own."

* * *

They walked down the hall. Joey and Sugoroku both had a hand on one of Yugi's shoulders, and they guided him through the hospital's corridors. Kaiba trailed behind for once. The folder felt thick in his hands.

When they made it to the front desk and Sugoroku was signing the discharge papers, Kaiba addressed Yugi.

"Yugi, there is something I need to discuss with you." He cut a glare to Wheeler, who was listening to their conversation. "In private."

Yugi smiled, looking vaguely in the direction of Kaiba's face. "Yeah, sure."

Wheeler set a hand on Yugi's shoulder again. "I don't know about this, Yug'."

Yugi frowned. "It's fine, Joe." He focused his attention on Kaiba again. He gave a small smile, almost a grimace. "You'll have to lead the way."

Kaiba hesitantly set a hand on Yugi's shoulder. It felt so small under Kaiba's palm. "We'll go to the cafeteria. Hungry?"

Yugi laughed. "Famished."

"Good." Kaiba gently nudged him forward, steered him by the hand on his shoulder.

He suddenly wondered if he'd ever touched Yugi before.

He banished the thought, instead focused on pacing himself correctly so Yugi wouldn't stumble. "I've personally seen to it that every dish, no matter how small, is of acceptable quality."

Yugi's voice was thick with amusement. "If it meets your standards of 'acceptable,' it must cost a pretty penny."

"Not really. You can still make good food out of inexpensive ingredients," Kaiba said, lip twitching with a ghost of a smile. His arm ached from the awkward angle at which he held it. "This position is not comfortable for my arm. I'm going to move my hand to your back."

Yugi nodded.

Kaiba shifted his hand to the small of Yugi's back. The curve of it felt much more comfortable against Kaiba's palm. He steered him into the cafeteria and guided him to a small table. Kaiba pulled out a chair. He gently took Yugi's hand in his and set it on the back of the seat.

"Thank you," Yugi said quietly.

"Hn." Kaiba looked over to the counter. The people there stared at him. Most of them had never seen the head honcho in person before. "What do you want to eat?"

"Um, a chicken sandwich is fine." Yugi dig around in the pocket of his sweatpants. "Here-"

"Put that away," Kaiba growled. "I'll be right back."

* * *

Yugi managed to eat his sandwich pretty well, but Kaiba reasoned that he'd had a decent amount of practice for that. They sat in silence, and Kaiba nursed a coffee strong enough to knock anybody else flat on their asses. Yugi made little hums of enjoyment as he ate, and Kaiba's lip twitched.

Yugi balled up the wrapper. His other hand carefully sought out the tray on the table. Kaiba nudged it forward until Yugi's fingers brushed it.

A smile. Yugi laughed.

Kaiba thought for a moment how much like the Pharaoh Yugi was starting to look as he got older.

But still the edges were soft, the eyes, though sightless, still so warm.

"Thanks for lunch," Yugi said, and he took a sip of his water.

"Hn." Kaiba pushed the tray to the side. He set the folder on the table.

Yugi's brows furrowed. "What is it you wanted to discuss?"

Kaiba took a deep, silent breath through his nose. "I would like to offer you a position at KaibaCorp."

"What?" Yugi asked, hand tightening rhythmically on the edge of the table. His disbelief was palpable.

"I hardly think I need to repeat myself."

"I… can't see, Kaiba," Yugi began. "Hell, I can't even read. There's nothing I can do for you," Yugi said, eyes downcast.

Kaiba's hand rested on top of the folder, and his finger began to tap rapidly. "You don't need to be able to see or read to do promotional events. Photoshoots, product endorsements, attending corporate events."

Yugi shook his head. "People aren't going to take my product endorsements seriously if I can't use them."

Kaiba snorted. "You'd be surprised." He drummed his fingers. "And as to being able to read… I'm extending to you exclusive employee privileges and benefits." He started counting off on his fingers, though Yugi wouldn't be able to see it. "An instructor who will teach you Braille, health insurance to cover  _any_ medical costs you might accrue - be it present ones or expenses for a nurse or caretaker, and, last but not least, quality housing for you  _and_ your grandfather."

Yugi's eyes were as wide as saucers.

"I'd like to note that Mokuba directly requested that you take up residence at the Kaiba manor until other plans are arranged," Kaiba added quietly.

"Kaiba…" Yugi began, "That's… that's too much to ask of you…"

Kaiba leaned back, crossed his arms. "You aren't asking anything of me. I'm not handing anything to you. You're going to work for it, Yugi."

Yugi shook his head, touched his forehead with a shaking hand. "I-I appreciate the offer, but, I already have living arrangements."

Kaiba scoffed. "Three people in a one-bedroom apartment. That's not going to work. Wheeler's food costs are going to triple. He can't support you on his own. Your grandfather will have to get a job. Who knows if anyone would even be willing to hire someone his age." Kaiba leaned forward. "I would advise  _you_ to get a job, but as you said… you can't even read."

Yugi's head snapped away. Tears glistened in his eyes. "I… I know…"

"I'm not trying to pressure you into this. Your life is yours to live. Just know that this opportunity exists," Kaiba reached forward, held Yugi's hand, and placed the folder in his grasp. "Here is the paperwork, all the contracts, even some pamphlets for people to get you… better adjusted to your new life. There is a card in there for a lawyer. Your grandfather or - god forbid - Wheeler can call her and she will be right over to go over all the documents, one-by-one." He pulled his hand away, rested back in the chair. "Most importantly, take your time making this decision. This opportunity will not expire."

A slight nod of Yugi's head. "Okay." His hands held the folder with utmost care. Like it was something about to break.

Or a bomb about to go off.

Kaiba felt his lips tighten. "Let's go, before Wheeler decides it's time to sniff us out and hunt us down."

Kaiba stood. So did Yugi, though slower.

Kaiba guided him back to the lobby.

* * *

"What do you have there, Yug'?" Joey asked as they walked out of the hospital.

"I… I'm not sure…" Yugi murmured.

Yugi looked over his shoulder. But with all the colors blurring together, he couldn't tell if Kaiba was standing there anymore.

He hugged the folder to his chest. "I'm not sure."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O. M. G. The reader response for this piece is making me all fuzzy on the inside.

Yugi woke up in the middle of the night. Uncomfortable weight settled in his gut, and he squirmed a little on the pitted surface of the air mattress.

He had to pee.

Still, he blinked rapidly, as if he could blink the fogginess from his eyes.

Nope. Still blind.

He sighed, quiet enough not to wake Joey on the couch (Grandpa's back was too bad to sleep on neither the air mattress nor the couch, and, since Joey could sleep anywhere with admirable ease, he gladly gave up his bed for the elderly man).

Yugi draped his arm over the mattress, firmly placed his palm on the worn carpet. He pushed himself up carefully. He blindly groped in front of him until his hands touched Joey's cheap coffee table. He stood. The tie on the loose pajama pants he was borrowing had apparently come undone, and Yugi barely managed to catch them before they fell to his ankles. He fumbled with the drawstrings and tied them again.

He began his cautious shuffle to the bathroom.

Joey's apartment had always been a mess, but he'd gotten a lot better at cleaning up after himself since Yugi moved in.

But, sometimes, he was still a little forgetful.

Yugi wasn't sure what he caught his foot on, but, suddenly, he was falling.

_Thunk_

Yugi caught himself painfully on one forearm on the wall. He sucked air in through his teeth. His side twinged; the position put uncomfortable strain on his still-tender skin graft. He shuffled his feet forward until he was standing vertically again.

"Sh-shit," he murmured, and he stuck his hand under his shirt.

No blood. Just tender flesh.

He hugged the wall, groped along it until he reached the bathroom. He found the light switch easily.

With how bad his eyesight was, he didn't necessarily  _need_  the light, but he still found its warm presence comforting.

He relieved his bladder with little fuss, but when he reached the sink, his frustration mounted.

Everyone's stuff (three people's worth) was scattered around the edge of the sink. He didn't want to grope around for the soap; it would just be disgusting to get his unwashed hands all over everything. He fumbled with the faucet.

He kept forgetting that the knobs for hot and cold were reversed.

Ice cold shock rocked his hands, and he hissed through his teeth, yanked his hands back. He returned his wet, shaking fingers to the knobs and carefully adjusted until the water was an acceptable temperature.

He bent close, splashed water on his sweating face.

Okay, soap. He needed soap.

With his hands at least rinsed, he felt better about searching for it tactilely.

He turned off the faucet for the moment, and slowly crept his hands out from each side. On the right, the surface of the rim of the sink dipped a little; a built-in soap shelf.

Yugi made a small sound in his throat. Promising.

But it was hardly occupied by soap.

As if on cue, his fingers brushed against something smooth, metallic. Carefully, he investigated the object.

When the pad of his index finger skimmed a sharpened edge, Yugi drew his hand back with a gasp.

Grandpa's straight-razor.

"Son of a bitch," Yugi hissed, voice wobbling.

If he would have just grabbed in the general direction of the soap, he would've gotten a handful of razor.

He stepped back, and his shoulders bumped into the wall. He slumped his weight into it, slid down to hug his legs. He pressed his face to his knees.

Rinsing his hands would have to be good enough.

When he returned to the air mattress (somehow avoiding whatever he had tripped on earlier), it took him forever to get his hands to stop shaking.

And even longer to fall asleep.

He dreamed of cuts on his hands and razors and blood and stitches ripping. But, most of all, he dreamed of smoke and fire.

* * *

"I made breakfast for you, Yugi."

"Thanks, Grandpa."

Forks scraped on cheap plastic plates.

"Grandpa…?"

"Yes, Yugi?"

"Can I ask a favor of you?"

"Of course. What is it?"

"In my bag, there's a folder. I need you to get it. Inside, there is a business card. When you have the time, please dial the number on it."

"Okay. Whose number is it?"

"It's for a lawyer. She's going to help me sign some contracts."

* * *

Kaiba was tweaking some blueprints when the call came in. He stared, somehow surprised by the caller ID on the screen.

He pressed the green button and lifted the phone to his ear. "Hello, Mrs. Deering."

"Hello, Mr. Kaiba. I just thought I'd tell you that a certain Yugi Muto called me this morning," her sweet voice chirped me on the other end.

Amanda Deering might have seemed the sweetheart, but she was a cunning snake in the courtroom. And she often showed a little fang and venom to her richest client.

Seto Kaiba expected nothing less from his personal lawyer.

"When's the appointment?" Kaiba asked.

"Later today. Four o'clock. I'd give you updates, but I think I'm extending client privileges to your little friend," she said with a snicker.

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'll cover any costs you might foot me. I know how you get about that shit."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I'm just happy to help."

"Hn."

" _Hn_ ," she repeated, mocking. "The least you can do is show me a little gratitude."

Kaiba was already tapping his credit card information on an online shopping site. "My  _gratitude_  will arrive at your office sometime in the next two days."

"No," she gasped out. "You didn't. My husband will kill me if I bring home another gift basket."

Kaiba shrugged a shoulder, even though the woman on the other end wouldn't see it. "That's what the man gets for cluing me in on your Achilles Heel." He frowned. "Though I would have found it myself eventually."

"You sure are cocky."

"I have every right to find confidence in myself."

* * *

"Thank you for meeting me here, Mrs. Deering," Yugi said with a kind smile as he settled into his seat. "I know it's probably a little not out of your way." He gestured blindly (literally blindly) to the area around them, a small fast-food restaurant not too far from Joey's apartment.

"Oh, just call me Amanda, Mr. Muto," she said. "And I understand completely. In your situation, mobility is limited."

"Well, Amanda, you can just call me Yugi," he gestured to his left. "This is my grandfather, Sugoroku Muto."

"Hello, Sugoroku," she said sweetly. A shuffling of material. They must have been shaking hands.

"Hello, Amanda. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." A click. Latches of a briefcase opening. "Did you bring the folder Mr. Kaiba provided you?"

"Yes." Yugi shifted his backpack off his shoulder and groped for the zipper. "It's right in here."

"Okay. And Mr. Kaiba summarized what the contracts covered?"

He pulled the folder out and set it carefully on the table. "For the most part, yes."

"Good. He sometimes skips that part. As if people are supposed to innately understand his legal jargon," she said with a scoff.

Yugi laughed. "That sounds just like Kaiba."

A slight noise of mock disdain. "Unfortunately." Yugi heard the folder slide across the table. "Well, are you ready to get started?"

* * *

A loopy signature decorated the papers, and although each signing slanted a little off of the line, it was more than good enough.

* * *

That night, Yugi and Joey argued.

"I can't believe this, Yugi!" Joey yelled. At least he wasn't stomping around the kitchen anymore. "You're picking  _that_ bastard over me!"

Yugi shook his head, too tired for vehemence. "Joey, I'm not picking Kaiba over you. I… I'm picking  _me_ over you."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"

Yugi sighed. "Kaiba's offering me independence, confidence in myself again. Joe… I fell last night."

"What?" The anger immediately bled out of Joey's voice.

"I fell last night. I needed to go to the bathroom, and I tripped over something. I… I thought I ripped my stitches at first."

"Yug'..."

"Then, I almost grabbed Grandpa's straight razor when I was looking for the hand soap." Yugi rubbed his face. "I'm tired, Joey. I'm tired of getting up and then forgetting or losing confidence in where I am. I'm tired of getting stuck  _in the middle of the living room_." Tears stung his eyes. A shaky, sniffling inhale. "I'm tired of everyone waiting on me. I just… I just want a little of it back, y'know?"

A hand on his shoulder, gentle but firmly squeezing. "Yeah, I get it, Yugi." A beat of silence. "I'm sorry. Sometimes I forget that you're capable of feeling hurt. Especially when you're so good at putting on a brave face." The angle of Joey's hand changed, and a chair creaked; Joey sat down. "And you're right. You need to think about you right now."

Yugi nodded, clumsily wiped away tears before they could fall. "I need to take care of Grandpa, too. I can't do that like this."

The tears wouldn't stop.

"I can't  _live_ like this."

* * *

The next appointment Yugi had was with Seto Kaiba himself.

One of Kaiba's musclemen came to pick him up, guided him out of the apartment and to a car. (Yugi guessed he was a 'muscleman' because the hand on his shoulder felt like an entire spiral ham resting on him.)

"Thank you," Yugi said, kind and genuine.

"You're… you're welcome," the man replied, at a loss.

"What's your name, if you don't mind my asking?" Yugi inquired as the car slid forward from park.

"... Michael."

"It's nice to meet you, Michael."

"It's nice to meet you, too, Mr. Muto."

Yugi chuckled. "Just call me Yugi. Mr. Muto is my grandfather." He ran his hands along the leather seats. His palms were sweating profusely.

"All right, Yugi."

* * *

Kaiba saw on the tiny square in the corner of his screen when Yugi and Michael entered his office vestibule. The behemoth of a man led the much-smaller Yugi with a hand on his shoulder.

Kaiba inhaled deeply, though his chest felt tight with pressure.

Yugi had signed the contracts. Every last one of them.

Kaiba's personal secretary and receptionist buzzed his phone, and he immediately pressed the speaker button. "Let them in."

The door opened, and Michael guided Yugi across the threshold.

"Hello, Yugi," Kaiba greeted coolly.

Yugi smiled in his general direction. Sincere as always. "Hi, Kaiba."

"Have a seat," Kaiba said, pointedly stared at Michael and gestured toward the chair in front of his desk.

Michael led Yugi to his seat.

"That will be all, Michael." Kaiba dismissed the man with a nod.

Yugi turned slightly in his chair, smiled behind it. "Thank you, Michael."

"It was my pleasure, Yugi."

Kaiba stared after Michael as he left, the corner of his mouth turning down.

"You seem friendly today," Kaiba noted.

Yugi laughed. "I'm always friendly."

"Hn." Kaiba leaned back, regarded the young man before him. Yugi's eyes squinted in Kaiba's direction.

The light from the floor-to-ceiling windows was bothering him.

Kaiba flicked his fingers along the touchscreen built into his desk. The glass darkened.

Yugi blinked rapidly, and Kaiba could  _see_ his pupils dilate in response. "Thank you," Yugi murmured.

"You need to be more vocal when something is bothering you. Not everyone is as observant as I am," Kaiba said.

Yugi lowered his eyes. "Noted."

Kaiba thrummed his fingers on the desk. The atmosphere was tense. It could've been split with a butter knife.

"Why," Yugi said, sitting anxiously at edge of his seat.

Kaiba blinked drolly. "Why what?"

Yugi was fidgeting. His arms rubbed together. "Why are you helping me?"

Kaiba leaned back in his chair, his elbow resting on one arm of the seat. "Do I need a reason to help anyone?"

Yugi's lips twisted. " _You_  do."

"Hn." Well, Yugi got him there. He watched Yugi's lips twist a few more times. "Don't worry about it."

Yugi sighed. "What happens next?"

Kaiba exhaled quietly. Finally down to business. "If you'd like, you can come to the Kaiba manor tonight. Two rooms have been prepared. One for you, one for your grandfather."

Yugi settled back into his chair. "If I'd like?"

Kaiba lifted a shoulder. "You can move in whenever it's convenient for you."

Yugi's cheeks flushed red. Humiliated. "As soon as possible is most convenient for me."

Kaiba laughed, almost condescending. "Is that mutt driving you away already?"

Yugi's eyes flashed with true ire. " _Joey_ has done his best to help me and my grandfather."

Kaiba sniffed. He could  _feel_ the line he was toeing. "Then why did you contact Mrs. Deering?"

Yugi pinched the bridge of his nose. "I… I can't function like this. T-Tripping over myself all the time. Always feeling lost." He pressed his hands to his face. His fingers visibly shook. " _Always_ feeling lost. I can be laying down and I don't even… d-don't even know where I am anymore."

Kaiba swallowed.

Yugi's breaths were shaking, and he rocked himself comfortingly in his seat. Deep, stuttering inhales. Exhales blowing through lips.

"S-Sorry," Yugi whimpered.

Kaiba looked away, and he gulped again.

"I can have appointments arranged for tomorrow," Kaiba said. "The Braille instructor. A physical therapist who specializes in treating the blind." Kaiba tapped a finger on his chin. "You could even pick out a nurse who can help you until you need otherwise."

Yugi rubbed his arms again, nodded. "Okay. Okay. That… That all sounds good."

Kaiba tapped a couple of things on the touch screen. "I can send someone to retrieve your belongings."

Yugi shook his head. "That won't be necessary." He slid his backpack down his arm and lifted it up by its handle strap.

"Everything I own is right here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this might end up being longer than I suspected, buuuuuut I'm sure you guys won't mind :3


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: This story was going to be called "Down Come the Rain" after the song of the same title by Hidden Citizens (definitely worth a listen). But, I liked the play on words with the current title, and here we are, months after I first started conceptualizing this story.
> 
>  
> 
> [ Down Come the Rain, Hidden Citizens ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTAyi1txKuc)
> 
> In case you want to listen, here's a link.

Seto spoke quietly into the phone. "Mokuba, Yugi will be staying with us starting tonight. I want you to-"

A cheer on the other end that had Seto yanking the phone away from his ear and hissing. He cautiously brought it closer.

"Mokuba, you damn near blew my eardrum out," he bit out.

A chuckle. "Sorry."

He did not sound sorry.

"Anyway, what I was saying is that I want you to give him a little space. It's a lot different than when he was in the hospital."

"I get it." A beat of silence. "What about Grandpa?"

Seto's brows furrowed. When did Mokuba start calling Sugoroku 'Grandpa'?

He guessed it didn't matter. Mokuba spent enough time around the Dweeb Squad to consider them fictive kin.

"He will apparently be spending a few more days with Wheeler."

A small grunt of disappointment. "Okay, then. When will you be coming home?"

Seto glanced at the door of his office, where, beyond, sat Yugi in the vestibule. "Soon. He needs to adjust to his new surroundings as soon as possible."

"Jesus, Seto, you make it sound like you're bringing home a cat, not Yugi," Mokuba laughed.

"Well, I'm not wrong. I want to show him around, let him explore on his own a little. He's got a busy day tomorrow and he needs his rest, too."

"Still sounds like a cat. You need some practice when it comes to talking about people, big brother."

* * *

Kaiba simply walked ahead of Yugi as they went down the hall. Yugi trailed a hand along the wall.

"The room I have prepared for you is the third on the right," Kaiba informed, and looked over his shoulder slightly. Yugi seemed attentive, if not a little overwhelmed by the information.

It was in one of the first hallways on the ground floor; Kaiba figured it would be best for Yugi to avoid stairs for the time being.

"It was an en suite bathroom. I understand that you don't know Braille as of yet, but everything is labeled and prepared for when you do."

"You… You knew I would say yes," Yugi said. His slender fingers splayed on the wall when he stopped.

Kaiba lifted a shoulder. "I prepared for every possible outcome."

Yugi laughed softly, vivid purple eyes staring vaguely, but intensely in Kaiba's direction. Then, he slowly shook his head, smiling to himself.

Kaiba bristled. "What?"

Yugi smiled at him, so bright, so genuine. "Thank you."

Kaiba gulped, face hot, and he looked away. Something twinged in his chest.

"Your room is right here," he said through the lump on his throat. He stepped away to let Yugi investigate the door.

Yugi trailed his hands along the wood, and his fingertips skimmed along the knob. "There's Braille on the knob."

"Yes."

Yugi looked back at him, and Kaiba wondered what he saw. "What does it say?"

"Guess you'll have to find out."

* * *

Yugi met Anna, his personal maid. She seemed nice enough, eager to help him.

"Mr. Muto, allow me to put away your clothing," she offered.

Yugi smiled. She was but a vague shape amongst a foggy sea of blurred colors. "Call me Yugi. And I… I don't have any clothes for you to put away." All the clothes he had in his bag was a borrowed outfit from Joey and those baggy pajama pants.

"O-Oh…"

Awkward silence.

Yugi smiled, shouldered his bag, and shuffled a little around the room. He felt the two pairs of eyes on him, Anna and Kaiba. "The carpet feels soft," Yugi commented. His feet, clad in bedraggled socks, sank right into the plush material.

A dark shape ahead. Yugi extended a hand. It was a long dresser, about waist-high. He set his backpack on top of it.

Kaiba cleared his throat. "Someone will take your measurements, make sure you get some clothes that actually fit. Do you have any preferences?"

Yugi shrugged. "Button-ups for now, I guess. Pants don't matter. As long as they fit." He took a slow breath. "Beggars can't be choosers." He pressed a hand to his face.

A chirp of a notification.

"Dinner is done, Mr. Kaiba, Yugi."

"Thank you," Yugi murmured quietly.

* * *

Dinner wasn't as awkward as Yugi thought it would be. Kaiba and Mokuba conversed quietly about their days. They left Yugi alone to get comfortable, to eat his food at his own pace.

It had been explained in detail what Yugi was eating, but it still amazed him.

He hummed a little in delight with each bite. The fish was light, delicately seasoned. The spiced rice complemented it with warm, gentle flavors. The asparagus on the side was caramelized, a little charred, and Yugi fell in love with the smokey taste.

He wanted to give his compliments to the chef. He hadn't something so good in a very long time.

"Are you enjoying the food, Yugi?" Mokuba asked, his voice thick with amusement.

Yugi set his fork down and nodded enthusiastically. All he could see of Mokuba was a long, black blotch. That wild hair. "It's wonderful. Your chef is amazing."

"Well, thanks," Mokuba replied.

Yugi paused, glass of water half-lifted to his lips. "What?"

" _I'm_ the chef, Yugi," he laughed.

"And you've been hiding this great gift from the world? I can't believe this," Yugi said, snorting with disbelief. "I'm feeling a little betrayed, Mokuba."

Mokuba laughed, and Yugi went back to slowly eating his food. He carefully dabbed the corners of his mouth with his napkin.

When he was done, he set his fork back onto his plate. "That was wonderful. Thank you, Mokuba."

"Yeah, no problem, Yugi."

Yugi carefully stood, pushed in his chair. He went to pick up his plate, but it was pulled away from his fingers. He glanced over. Green. Kaiba was wearing a dark green shirt.

"Thank you, Kaiba," he said quietly, blinking up at the taller man.

"Hn."

Yugi's throat tightened. "Um… can… can I ask a favor of you?"

A quiet grunt.

Yugi's cheeks felt hot. He rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, I'd like to know where I'd put the plate if I were to take care of it on my own."

Kaiba made another soft sound. "Don't worry about that right now. All things in good time."

Frustration bubbled up in Yugi's chest, but he fought it down. Kaiba was right. He shouldn't bite off more than he could chew.

"Okay," he said quietly.

A long-fingered hand settled on his shoulder, gave a slight squeeze, and disappeared. The smear of green was shifting away, and Yugi listened to the sound of his retreating feet.

Yugi sat and thought. How did he get to the dining room, again?

He slipped from the room, and managed to trace his path back to the hallway. He noticed that the texture of the walls changed from room to room.

The paint here was smooth, and there was ornate moulding about rib-high on the wall.

One door, two doors, three doors on the right.

The knob had Braille.

His grin split his face, made his cheeks hurt.

He'd found it.

"I found it," he whispered to himself.

* * *

"Stop shuffling, Mr. Muto," Dr. Andrew Morris rumbled.

"I… can't help it," Yugi admitted, "I'm scared."

He was stranded in the middle of a room. Objects were scattered all about.

"I understand that. You feel lost. You are confused. You don't want to fall and hurt yourself."

Yugi nodded.

" _But_ shuffling as you are makes you incredibly vulnerable. Your balance is off." Dr. Morris moved closer. His big hand shoved into Yugi's shoulder. Yugi stumbled, but Dr. Morris easily caught him and set him back on his feet. "Feel how easy that was?"

Yugi nodded again, lips a thin line.

"Okay."

Dr. Morris touched his hand. Rubbery material touched his palm.

"Mr. Muto, this is a support cane. I'm sure you'd seen one before."

Yugi nodded.

"I want you to practice with this, okay?"

Yugi nodded again.

"Now, don't  _just_ use it to find the edges of objects. I want you to  _hear_ the sound it makes when it touches something,  _feel_ how it vibrates. That can tell you just as much about what you're investigating as visualizing where it is can."

When Yugi nodded this time, it was resolute.

He could do this.

He's overcome worse.

What was blindness compared to the end of the world?

* * *

"Okay, Yugi," Sakura Kobayashi said. "I have our first worksheet right here. Now, we're just going to start with the alphabet. I'm sure you can already read, so after we get the basics down the rest will fall into place, okay?"

"Okay!" Yugi replied. He was eager to start.

"Alright. Now, you'll probably notice immediately that this paper is thicker than normal, right?" He heard the paper slide across the table.

He reached forward, groped for it. Yes, as soon as he touched it, he noted the thickness and texture. And the tiny bumps scattered all over it.

He immediately felt overwhelmed. These… these were letters…?

A gentle hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Yugi. I know this is a lot. But just take a deep breath. We're just going to take this one step at a time, okay?"

A nod.

"I'm going to touch your hand, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay."

She took his hand in hers, guided it to the first line. "I'm sure your sense of touch is already sensitive since you've grown to rely on it more."

"It is. I was using the wall textures in the place I'm staying to find my way around."

She chuckled. "Well, you've already taken the first steps." She kept running his pointer finger over the same bumps. "We need to refine that a little." Over and over, and then slower. "Count the bumps for me, Yugi."

His lips parted. "Um, one…?"

"Yes, very good! I say 'bumps' plurally to see if people will catch that." She let him investigate that one little bump some more. "That's the letter 'a'."

A smile cracked his lips. "A."

"Alright, let's move onto the next."

He did, moved his fingertip just barely to the right. "Umm…" Okay. There were more. He had a little trouble discerning how many. He squeezed his eyes shut to concentrate. "Th-three…?"

"Yes!" Sakura chirped. "Can you tell me how they are oriented?"

That was a little easier. "They're in a straight line. Up and down."

"Indeed they are!  _That_ is 'L'."

Yugi grinned. "L."

* * *

"I've decided," Yugi declared to Michael.

"And what is it that you have decided, Mr. Muto?"

"Yugi," he corrected playfully. He lurched a little in his seat when they stopped at what was presumably a red light.

"Yugi."

"I don't think I need a nurse."

"Mr. Kaiba insisted-"

"I know, Michael,  _but_  hear me out," Yugi said. "I don't really have any daily health care needs. I can apply any and all topical medications, and I can take my oral medications on my own." He shrugged. "I don't need help changing clothes, bathing, or using the bathroom. Especially with how organized the bathroom is for the room I'm staying in." His fingers drummed on his thighs, tapped over the cane folded over his lap. "And with my support cane, I won't need as much help finding my way around. I'm learning Braille fairly quickly, so I don't need someone to help me with that so much."

"You make fine points," Michael conceded, "but that doesn't mean Mr. Kaiba will accept such an answer."

Yugi sighed. He leaned his head against the window. The glass was warm from the sun. "I know. But… I really don't think I need one."

"You can still bring the subject up with him, but don't get your hopes up. My boss is a very stubborn man."

"Stubborn doesn't cut it. More like obstinate."

Michael chuckled.

* * *

Kaiba felt his brows tick hard. "You  _don't want_ a nurse?"

Yugi shook his head. "No. I don't need one, either."

Kaiba felt his teeth grit. "And are you sure your opinion isn't clouded by personal bias?"

Yugi sighed. Kaiba could see how tense his shoulders were. "Look, I know you think you're doing what's best for me. But the thing is, I am the only one who really has a firm grasp on what I'm capable of right now. I can dress myself with ease, bathing and general hygiene are not a problem, and I can at least find my way around the house without a problem with this." He lifted up his support cane. "I'm learning Braille very quickly, too."

"I'm pleased to hear all of that, but, Yugi, you shouldn't get too ahead of yourself here."

"I understand that, and I don't think I am. I…" He took a deep breath and a moment to collect his thoughts. Kaiba waited, though his steepled fingers drummed together. "I'm already feeling a lot better about everything. You've made an environment conducive for… rehabilitation. I have all the resources and help I could  _ever_ ask for, and it's been less than forty-eight hours since I signed those contracts."

Something rumbled in Kaiba's chest. He felt proud in a way he had never felt before.

"As you wish. Know you may change your mind at any time." He tapped away on his touch screen, cancelled the appointment where Yugi would have selected his personal nurse and caretaker.

"Thank you," Yugi murmured. "Kaiba… can I speak candidly?"

Kaiba looked back up. Yugi's face was beet red. Kaiba wetted his dry lips. "I would prefer candor, yes."

Yugi rubbed the back of his neck. "You're being… strangely considerate. Not that it's a bad thing! It just… I'm not used to it."

Kaiba's lip twitched down into a frown. He had to admit, he had been… far less than kind to Yugi in the past. "Let's just say that I know what it feels like to have no where to go."

* * *

Before and after dinner, Yugi was sitting at the dining room table, papers neatly lined up for him to peruse by touch.

Kaiba could hear him mumble under his breath.

"L, m, j, b, y -"

Letters in random order. He was learning quickly, indeed. Sometimes, he would pause a moment, carefully run his finger over the bumps. He would get stuck, but it didn't take long before he was remembering the letter and continuing on with his little exercises.

And then, when he had exhausted himself and, at Mokuba's behest, retired to his room for the night. He unfolded his white and red cane and tapped his way down the hall.

* * *

Yugi made it to his room in record time. He touched the knob.

The Braille, he realized with a start. He could read it now.

"Y…" he whispered. "U… G… I…"

_Yugi_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this update took a little longer. I was a little uncertain where I was taking this and future chapters (I'm actually a couple ahead right now) but I realized that, with at least this one, it fits fine and that I will post it anyway. The next chapter is going to be reworked a little to fit the narrative I have going on in my head. It's gotta be perfect, after all!
> 
> Thanks for your patience!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo I was going to wait to post this, but, I decided, that I would treat myself, and, therefore, my beloved readers. Also, this chapter spans several weeks of time. Just an FYI.

Sugoroku Muto finally moved in two days later. He watched with solemn violet eyes as Yugi continued exploring the mansion. The rapid tapping of the support cane on furniture, walls, and the occasional human leg filled the room.

Kaiba glanced between them.

"He's learning quickly," Kaiba murmured. "He's nearly mastered the Braille alphabet."

A slight dip of that bearded chin. "That's good."

_Tap, tap._  Yugi hummed, barely audible from that side of the room.

"Thank you," Sugoroku said quietly. "I could lose all the objects in the world. But I couldn't handle losing Yugi."

Kaiba watched Yugi meander down a hallway. He was testing the width of the corridor and the spacing of the doorways.

"He won't ever be the same, but, maybe…" Sugoroku sighed and shook his head, but didn't continue.

Kaiba bit his tongue and turned to see Yugi bump into a small table in the hallway. Kaiba felt himself lurch forward.

But Yugi only laughed, traced the edges of the table with a studious hand before he continued on his way.

* * *

The sun was warm and bright on Yugi's face where he sat just outside the shadow of the veranda. Birds whistled and chirped in the trees, and their lilting songs carried on the wind sighing through the leaves. The cloying scent of lilacs hung to the air with a pleasant thickness, and Yugi's lungs heaved in great huffs in appreciation of it.

His fingers skimmed along the bumps on the paper. It was a simple book, close to a children's story, but he ate up each little character.

He could  _read_ again, even if it were only bare-minimum, but it was good enough for him.

The sliding door hissed open, and Yugi tilted his head. Long strides, the click of dress shoes on expensive tile.

"Kaiba," he greeted, paused, one finger still pressed to paper.

"Hn." A chair scraped, the click of something being set on the glass table. "You better not stay in the sun too long. You're going to burn."

Yugi lifted a shoulder. "I'll be fine."

"Hn, don't say I didn't warn you."

And then what Yugi most definitely recognized as the tapping of keys. Yugi let out a short breath, lip tilting up, but continued with his reading. He just basked in the scent of lilac and the sound of swift fingers on a keyboard.

* * *

"Mr. Muto, I'm going to touch your face," the make-up artist warned.

"Okay," Yugi replied, felt fingers touch his chin and tilt his face. "So just a photo shoot today?" There was a beat of silence (though it wasn't "silent" with all the commotion going on in the studio). "Kaiba?"

"Yes." His voice came from just in front of Yugi, to the left.

Yugi hummed.

"Mr. Muto, close your eyes for me." He complied, and the soft, ticklish sensation of the brush passing over his face made him twitch.

"It's for a duel disk, though?" He asked, barely moving his lips in fear of getting makeup in his mouth. Again.

"Yes. The Gold Edition on the newest version."

"Oh."

"I thought it would be fitting to have the 'King of Games' model for it," Kaiba commented.

"Yeah, it is, I guess."

He gave the photographers full permission to position his body just as they pleased. He might not have been able to see the people taking his pictures, but the flashing lights had spots of color dancing on the back of his eyelids.

* * *

"Amazing…" the photographer muttered as he showed Kaiba the prints. "He can't even see, and his eyes just pierce into you. I don't know how you managed to get him to do the shoot, but, damn, he was the perfect model."

Kaiba grunted. He lifted up one of the prints. Yugi stood, resolute, determination painted on every plane of his face.

Kaiba knew that look. From duels, from tough situations, from nights Yugi sat at the dining room table poring over sheets upon sheets of Braille. That look was all his own, with or without the Pharaoh.

Some of the shots were more candid. Yugi fiddling blindly with the duel disk, Yugi laughing at something someone had said, Yugi just standing there, waiting for further instructions.

Kaiba traced his finger along the glossy papers.

When no one was looking, Kaiba slipped one into his pocket.

* * *

Kaiba sucked his breath through his teeth while they walked to the back door of the studio.

Yugi froze at the sound, even with Kaiba's firm hand at the small of his back. "What's happening?"

"It's the fucking paparazzi," Kaiba hissed.

Yugi blanched, and, even though he couldn't see clearly, he most definitely felt vertigo. "Oh."

"It's okay. Just stick close to me and Roland and Michael will clear the way."

The door opened. Lights flashed and renewed the spots of color on the back of Yugi's eyelids. Voices and jostling, so many people, so many people that Yugi couldn't  _see_ , his breath was tight in his throat.

"Stand back!" Kaiba barked. "Lay a finger on either of us and I'll sue you for all you're worth, and then some!"

Yugi was all but tucked into Kaiba's side, and Yugi's fingers clenched into Kaiba's silky suit jacket to the point of pain.

They finally settled into the car, Kaiba's hand on Yugi's head to make sure he wouldn't bump himself getting in, and the car was lurching, horn blaring at the sea of people crowding the vehicle.

A couple of moments of tense silence, and then Yugi felt the tension drain from his body like puss from a wound. His fingers slipped from where they gripped Kaiba's jacket, and Yugi scooted back a little.

Kaiba hadn't said a thing about it.

Yugi's cheeks felt a little hot.

* * *

The posters were everywhere, in Domino City, all across the world. The ads popped up on every app, every website.

_**KaibaCorp's Duel Disk: Gold Edition** _

Spiky hair like a crown, duel disk gold and fanning like a wing on a crossed arm. A card held between two slender fingers, held up, covering one eye, the other resolute, determined, piercing all who dared to meet its gaze.

_**Duel like royalty.** _

_**Duel like a king.** _

* * *

Yugi had always been a very visual person. Most of his hobbies he needed his eyes for; video games, dueling, reading comic books, sketching thumbnail doodles of the many games he dreamed of designing.

With blindness, Yugi had to find new ways to occupy himself on his downtime. He'd always had music he'd enjoyed, but never had he really thought it to be a huge part of his experience as a human being.

Blindness changed that, all the way from the first few days in the hospital. Where his deck used to be tucked into his belt, he now had that raggedy MP3 player.

Music became one of the most sensual experiences he could find. It engaged his senses in ways few else could anymore. It was more intense than he ever remembered it being when he could see.

Some days, he would just lay in his room or bask in the sun on the lawn of the Kaiba manor and just listen to music for hours on end.

"What kind of music do you like, Yugi?" Mokuba had asked one Saturday afternoon. It was a rare day when all four of the house's occupants were home (both Kaibas and both Mutos).

Yugi shrugged. He was sitting at the peninsula in the family kitchen - there was another kitchen, industrial in size and make for use when the manor was entertaining parties of equal scale - and picking at his lunch. "I don't know. I don't really think my tastes follow any real genres right now. I've really been into instrumental stuff lately, though."

"Huh," Mokuba hummed. "I've never been into stuff without lyrics."

Yugi tapped his chin pensively. "I didn't, either. But… it amazes me. How much emotion a, say, a violinist can wring out of the instrument they play."

"I can understand how that would be appealing to you."

"It just… I really get caught up in it now."

* * *

Kaiba looked at the pair over the edge of his tablet.

Yugi had fallen silent, choosing instead to eat his salad. Mokuba had that thoughtful look on his face. The conversation seemed to have him contemplating his own choice in music. He probably didn't have such a deep reasoning behind his favorite songs and artists.

Kaiba stood, quietly walked from the room.

He padded up the stairs, down the hall and to his room. His closet was huge, filled with suits for any occasion he may happen across. But, on one shelf, only one object took up any space.

He didn't even have to reach to pull the case off its high shelf.

He set it atop a dresser. The latches popped open. He lifted the lid.

The burnished wood of his violin stared back on him.

He hated the damn thing.

Gozaburo had forced him to take lessons. The old git had wanted his dancing monkey to be able to play music, too.

Even after the old man died, he couldn't find it in himself to get rid of the damn thing.

He contemplated that maybe, perhaps, it was the only thing of beauty his stepfather had ever bothered to give him.

He shook his head, slammed the lid shit, and stashed the case back up on that high shelf.

* * *

Yugi's dreams never made sense. They were always this amalgamation of experience and fantasy that ended up coming out like a metaphysical Frankenstein's monster.

More often than he'd like, they were nightmares.

He woke up gasping, shaking. Fire still raged through the planes of his imagination, contrasted oddly with shadows thick and choking and threatening to devour his soul. He rolled, clutching sweat-soaked sheets.

Everything was blurry.

His breaths were short and fast and painful. His chest was too tight. He was suffocating. The smoke and the shadows, they were killing him.

He stumbled out of bed, tripped when the sheet tangled around his foot. He caught himself on his hands and knees.

His legs were tangled. He whimpered, panic seizing every fiber of his being.

They had him, they had him.

He scrambled forward. His head thunked into the wall. He stood, kicked the sheet from his leg. He groped wildly for the door.

He had to get out. The walls were closing in on him. They were going to squeeze the air out of him. They were going to squeeze the  _life_  out of him.

Before he knew it, he was staggering down the hall.

* * *

Seto rubbed a hand over his eye. He shouldn't have stayed up that late again. But all that paperwork was behind, and at least he's about a week ahead of schedule now.

He walked slowly through the manor from the garage. He stepped into the kitchen, slowly drank a cup of water. It wasn't long before he was switching off the light and heading for the stairs.

He paused.

Halfway up, a small shape was hunched over, sitting on a step, clinging to the railing, shaking like a leaf.

"Yugi?" His voice cracked with confusion and exhaustion.

Yugi jolted, head whipping around, eyes wild, face stained with tears. "Kaiba?" the name was but a whimper.

Seto started up the stairs. "What happened?"

Yugi shrunk in on himself. "I don't know."

Seto was just a few steps away now. "You don't know?"

A hiccup, sniffling. "I… I had a bad dream. Th-the fire. And-" a wet, choking inhale "- and the Shadow Realm." This close, Seto could see in explicit detail the discoloration of Yugi's bare side from burn scars and skin grafts. "I… I panicked."

Seto knelt down, reached out. His fingertips brushed Yugi's stubbly chin. "Do you want me to help you back to your room?"

Yugi's face crumpled, anguished. "Yes."

Seto petted the wild hair, a little overgrown now. "Okay."

Yugi stood, hands trembling and white-knuckled on the railing. He reached out, small hand curling into the front of Seto's shirt. He carefully edged forward, nuzzled Seto's chest, sought out comfort.

Something in Seto's chest twisted and twinged.

"Can… can you hug me?" The question was small and trembling, expecting to be rejected.

Seto wrapped his arms around the quivering torso. Yugi's arms hesitantly looped around Seto's waist. Yugi's cheek was still on his chest, and Seto felt the tears soaking through his shirt, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

He stroked his hand through Yugi's hair, down his back, tried to ignore how soft Yugi's skin felt. "Th-thank you, Kaiba," Yugi said softly, deep voice wavering.

With Yugi one step higher, he was just high enough for Seto to set his chin on top of his head.

"Seto," he said quietly.

"What?"

"Call me Seto."

Yugi's breath huffed out, hitching, filtering through the material of Seto's shirt. "Seto…"

Seto stroked that wild dark hair one last time before he pulled away. "Let's get you to bed."

Yugi nodded, "Okay."

Seto took Yugi's hands, carefully guided him down the stairs.

"Last one," Seto said.

And then he shifted, set a hand on the small of Yugi's back and maneuvered him down the hallways.

* * *

It wasn't long before they were at Yugi's door. Yugi heard Kaiba -  _Seto_  - opened the door. He made a soft sound in his throat.

Seto stepped in, and, based on the rustling of fabric, was picking the scattered sheet and blankets off the floor.

Yugi's cheeks were hot with shame. "I'm sorry."

Another soft sound. "Don't apologize. You have nothing to apologize for."

Yugi rubbed his arms. His cheeks flushed hotter. He'd barely noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt, but now he was all too aware.

Seto was touching him again, gently nudging him into bed. "C'mon. Get some sleep."

Yugi crawled onto the mattress, but when Seto turned to walk away, Yugi blindly reached out.

His fingers curled around Seto's elbow.

His breath and voice shook. "P-Please… st-stay with me…"

A beat of silence. No response. Yugi's arm fell, and he curled into himself. His eyes felt hot and stinging again.

Dear god, what was he  _thinking_?

"I need to change," Seto rumbled. "I can't sleep in pants like this. They bug the shit out of me." His hand, warm and gentle, touched Yugi's face. "I'll be right back, okay?"

Yugi leaned into the touch. He felt his eyelashes catch on the edge of Seto's palm. "O-Okay."

And then he was gone, the door closing gently behind him.

Yugi shifted around, tucked himself into the sheets. He trembled with nerves.

What had he just done?

A lump of apprehension formed in his throat, and his fingers curled hard into the blankets. The door opened again, the light flicked off, and the door closed. He heard Seto's bare feet pad across the soft carpet, and then the other side of the bed dipped. Seto's clothing whispered against the sheets, and then his body settled into his mattress. He let out a tired sigh.

Yugi nuzzled his pillow, cheeks hot, hot, hotter.

It was so embarrassing… but Seto was so sweet. He felt a little twinge of jealousy when he realized that this was the Seto whom Mokuba always got to see.

Yugi's voice cracked the silence. "You know when you've been away from home from a really long time, and, you really just want to go home? You would give  _anything_ to go home?"

A beat of quiet. "Yes." On this big bed, Seto's voice sounded so close.

Yugi sniffed. "I feel that. All the time. But… it's not even for home. I mean, I miss the game shop, but…" he choked. "I miss the world I lived in. I-I miss  _seeing_. This new world is so lonely. I'm still so lost."

The bed frame creaked as Seto rolled onto his side, and the weight of an arm settled over Yugi's waist. Yugi snuggled closer, and Seto tugged him right into his chest.

Seto was warm and comforting, and when Yugi slept, all he dreamed of was blue eyes.

* * *

When Seto woke up, Yugi was sleeping on his chest. His cheek was on Seto's sternum, a hand resting in a loose fist on Seto's stomach. Seto's own hand was resting right on the bare curve of Yugi's waist, below his ribs and above his hip. He felt each of Yugi's small, sleepy breaths.

Seto's cheeks got a little warm.

He stared at the ceiling, which glowed faintly with the gentle light of the early morning.

He blinked. That was the best he had slept in a while.

Yugi shifted, murmuring, and Seto's fingers stroked softly in response. A sleepy huff, and Yugi was settling back down, face angled upward this time. His face, angular, was soft, serene with sleep, lips slightly parted.

Seto wanted to kiss him.

The thought made his eyes shoot open wide, and his whole body tensed.

Yugi grumbled, dark eyebrow furrowing.

Seto began to draw away, slow enough that it shouldn't disturb Yugi. But still, Yugi reached out. "Seto…"

"I'm just going to the bathroom," Seto said softly, throat tight.

Yugi sighed, settled back into the mattress, nuzzled his face into Seto's pillow. Breath short, heart warm and aching, Seto backed away slowly. When he got to the bathroom he shut the door softly. He looked into the mirror.

His face was blotched with red, his eyes bright in comparison. He breathed raggedly, rubbed a hand over his hot cheek. He took a few minutes to collect himself before he relieved his bladder and washed his hands.

When he returned to the bed, Yugi, still mostly asleep, wrapped around him tightly.

It wasn't long before Seto was falling back to the warm abyss of slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh? Ehhhh? *exaggerated elbow nudge*
> 
> I got some funny cute shit for the next chapter (as if I _haven't_ been writing cute shit up until this point).


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To people unfamiliar with the phrase "not going to cut it," it means that something isn't enough to get the job done. For example, "If that's your best, your best isn't going to cut it."

Seto had to fly to New York City for a conference.

On the flight, he thought about the one subject that seemed to be perpetually on his mind.

Yugi.

The scenario just two nights before unsettled him.

What if he hadn't come home late? What if Yugi had been stranded on that staircase all night? After all, Yugi was far too polite (if not a little too proud), to call for help; he wouldn't want to wake up the other people in the house.

And that made Seto think even more.

What about when Yugi needed to go out in public? Seto knew he was going a little stir crazy. The physical therapy and Braille lessons had all but ceased, and KaibaCorp didn't need photoshoots and product endorsements all too often.

Michael had volunteered to be Yugi's personal escort, but Seto knew that that still wasn't enough independence to satisfy his former rival's desires.

He had to look at other options.

There had to be  _something._

* * *

"Woah, Yug', you got quite the beard going down! You're startin' to look like your grandpa!" Joey exclaimed.

It'd been a week or two since last they saw each other; Joey downright refused to visit the Kaiba manor, so Yugi had to all but beg Michael to drive him into town to spend time with Joey.

Yugi blinked, touched his jaw. Sure enough, what had been stubble was coarser, thicker, and longer now. "Huh. When I do photoshoots for KaibaCorp, the stylists normally give me a shave as well."

Left unattended, Yugi could grow facial hair to rival the best of them (it may take a while to grow out, but what it lacked in speed in made up for in general thickness). Joey had always been envious of it.

"You don't shave yourself?" Joey sounded incredulous.

Yugi lifted his shoulders almost to his ears. "I mean, I don't really notice. I don't look at myself in the mirror every morning anymore. I don't even think to shave."

"It's not like… sensitive?"

Yugi shook his head. "Not really."

"Huh. Mine gets sensitive when it grows out."

"Nope. It's only sensitive when it's stubble," Yugi murmured, rubbing his jaw again. It was maybe half an inch long, from the feel of it.

"I really hate you sometimes. Why does a shrimp like you have better facial hair than a guy like me?"

Yugi chuckled. "Genetics. My grandpa has a great beard, and, apparently, so did my dad."

"Well, you look fucking weird. You should definitely shave it off when you get the chance."

Yugi stuck his tongue out. "You're just envious of my superior beard-growing abilities."

"No, you're just startin' to look like a wild man, Yug'."

Yugi touched his hair. It, too, was getting long… but he didn't mind that so much. It was actually starting to get weighed down now; it didn't stick up quite like it used to.

He thought about it. It'd been since before the fire that he got it trimmed. A couple of months now.

He touched his beard again, and thought about Seto's fingers on his chin. Skin on skin.

Yeah, the beard had to go.

* * *

Seto looked around the penthouse at the New York City KaibaCorp location.

He gritted his teeth so hard he thought he heard his molars crack.

The staircase to the second level had no railing. The living area was lower than the rest of the first level by about two feet. There were only two small sets of steps leading down to it; everywhere else was just a ledge. A dangerous ledge.

Yugi wouldn't last two minutes in this place, cane or no.

Seto growled, ran a hand through his hair.

Time to redecorate.

* * *

Yugi lathered the foam onto his damp face. His hair was haphazardly tied back. Carefully, he rubbed the foam into any place he felt an undue amount of facial hair. He blew out a breath slowly, picked up one of the disposable razors he had somehow convinced Michael to get for him. (It felt more like pulling teeth than trying to get everyday hygienic products.)

The moment of truth.

Slowly, carefully, he drew the razor up his neck. It didn't go more than two inches before it stopped cutting the thick hair. He could feel the difference, and lowered the razor to rinse it off in his sink. He went back to trying to shave. This was going to take forever.

And then he nicked himself.

He hissed. "Son of a bitch." He reflexively touched the spot. It stung. He was probably bleeding a little.

He heard a knock on his bedroom door. "Come in!" The door opened, and he could tell based on the length of the strides that it was Seto. His grin made his cheeks hurt. "How was New York?"

A grunt. Yugi could see a long, lean lump of color hovering near what he knew was the doorway to the bathroom.

"Yugi, what the hell are you doing?"

Yugi waved the razor around before he rinsed it off. "Shaving." He lifted the razor back to his neck. "Don't want to walk around looking like my grandpa." Another nick. He hissed.

Seto growled. "Stop."

"No, I can't stop. I already started," Yugi replied, frowned in Seto's direction. "I'd look like an idiot."

Seto grumbled, "Who even cares what you look like…"

Yugi rolled his eyes, oddly… flattered. Did that mean Seto liked him for his personality? (Kaiba couldn't deny liking Yugi; after all, how many people could claim that they received nighttime snuggles from the one and only Seto Kaiba? He didn't hand those out to everyone.)

"Okay, well, you can either leave, or you can help me shave. Because if you stand there and keep bitching at me, I will cut you."

Seto actually laughed.

No mocking, superior derision. No maniacal cackles. A genuine laugh, low and rumbling.

Yugi blinked, cheeks warm. What he wouldn't give to have seen it.

"A laugh out of  _the_ Seto Kaiba? What has the world come to…" Yugi murmured, the corners of his own lips tipping up.

"I've  _never_  heard you swear before," Seto said, voice still thick and wobbling with amusement. "And having you threaten me with a disposable shaving razor feels like having a kitten spit at me."

Yugi pouted. "Hey…" he held the razor out towards the gangly shape that was Seto. "Shave me or leave, asshole."

A splutter, restrained chuckles. But cool fingertips brushed Yugi's hand, and the razor was pulled from his grasp.

"Chin up," Seto murmured, suddenly closer. Through the smell of shaving cream, Yugi could detect Seto's scent: warm and earthy and a little spicy. The same scent that had stained his blankets and pillows until Anna had changed them out for cleaning. He took a deep breath, huffed as much as that scent as he could now. It percolated into his lungs in silky tendrils.

Yugi did as instructed, and Seto inched forward. Yugi could  _feel_  his warmth now.

A hesitant, slender hand settled on the side of Yugi's neck. Seto's fingers were so long they nearly wrapped around the back of his neck. Yugi felt his eyes fall shut, reveled in that cool, tender touch.

The razor set gently against his skin, and then it was dragging up, against the grain of the hair. The sharp metal caught and cut until it was gliding uselessly along the foamy hairs.

Seto grunted. "This isn't going to work. Why is your hair so  _thick_?"

Yugi chortled. "Genetics." He listened as Seto rinsed the blade off. "And yeah, that razor isn't going to cut it." He paused, grinned stupidly. "Both literally and figuratively."

Another laugh, and Yugi beamed brighter.

"I'll get you an electric razor," Seto replied. "But for now, we'll make do with this." Before long, he was tossing the razor, dulled by Yugi's brutal facial hair, and pulling a new one out of the package. "How the hell did you manage to shave this shit before?"

Yugi lifted a shoulder. "I shaved it when in was just stubble, before it got too out of hand. Only every couple days or so."

Seto grunted quietly.

Curiosity bubbled up in Yugi's chest. "How often do  _you_ shave?"

A beat a silence. "About once a week." He brushed a fingertip along Yugi's foamy jaw. "And it doesn't come in half as thick as this."

Yugi smirked. "Yet another thing I've got you beat in."

Seto snorted. "Don't get too cocky. At least I can groom myself on my own."

Yugi's neck was finally done, and his breath caught in his throat when Seto's hand shifted to grip him better to shave his jaw. His thumb was pressed just under Yugi's chin. "Hey, I could've done it all by myself."

"Yeah, after turning yourself into mincemeat."

"I would not have," Yugi murmured, lips barely moving as the razor dragged over his skin.

"You were well on your way when I got here," Seto replied. The slight breeze of his breath wafted down onto Yugi's face.

Yugi hummed, basked in the closeness and Seto's gentle hand on him. With less of the shaving cream cloying his senses, he could more fully enjoy Seto's comforting scent.

He blinked hazily. It made him a little sleepy.

They fell into a comfortable silence, filled only by the rasp of the razor and the occasional gurgling of the drain.

They were nearly done; Seto was carefully cutting away the hair above Yugi's upper lip, his other hand holding Yugi's chin between forefinger and thumb, and Seto broke the silence.

"Have you considered a seeing-eye dog?"

Yugi forced his eyes open. If he could see, he was sure his vision would still be bleary. "Yeah, I've thought about it, but I didn't think you'd want an animal in your expensive house."

Hair and nails and slobber.

Seto was silent, but the rustling of clothing suggested that his shoulders shrugged. Water running, splashing as Seto rinsed the razor off. "I mean, I wouldn't mind it. I like animals, believe it or not."

Yugi snorted.

"Mokuba had a dog. His name was Steve," Seto said.

Yugi spluttered, choked on surprised laughter. " _Steve?_ "

Seto chuckled. "Mokuba isn't all that creative." He tilted Yugi's head about with a firm grip, looked for any places he might've missed. He didn't think, didn't pause when he began to tactilely investigate the smooth, wet planes of Yugi's face and neck.

Yugi's breath caught, eyelids fluttering as Seto inadvertently caressed him. "What…" he huffed out a contented breath. "What happened to Steve?"

Seto touched up a spot under his jaw. "He was a sickly dog. A rescue from a puppy mill. Disgustingly inbred. We had donated to the shelter, and they'd sent us photos of the animals the money was going to aid. The instant Mokuba laid eyes on the photo of that frail puppy…" Seto wiped off the remains of shaving cream from Yugi's face. "Well, let's just say that the rest is history."

Yugi  _smelt_ as well as heard when Seto cracked open the aftershave.

"He was a good dog," Seto said quietly, and he rubbed his wet hands on Yugi's throat and cheeks. The cooling-burning effect of the substance soothed the irritation from the shave.

Yugi leaned into the touch. "So, you wouldn't mind, is what I'm hearing."

Seto turned away. The faucet running. He was rinsing his hands. "I wouldn't mind. In fact, I'm  _encouraging_ it. I…" The knobs squeaking. The gurgling of the drain. Seto was silent a moment. "I don't want what happened last week to happen again."

Yugi froze. That night, a lot of things had happened, and Yugi couldn't be sure to what Seto was referring.

"What if…" Seto began again, "What if I hadn't come home late?" A slow breath. "You would have been stranded on those fucking stairs all night."

Yugi lowered his gaze, stared at the blur of white that was the bathroom floor. "I've thought about that as well."

Seto sighed, and the aura of his body heat moved closer again. His hand cupped Yugi's cheek, tilted his head back up. "But it's not just about that, either. It's about your independence in general."

Yugi nodded, and the motion had Seto's palm brushing his cheek.

Yugi breathed out softly, cautiously edge closer, carefully wrapped an arm around Seto. Seto embraced him. And as Yugi inhaled that comforting scent, he thanked anyone out there that was listening for letting Seto be a part of his life.

* * *

So Seto arranged an appointment with an agency that trained guide dogs. He stood at Yugi's shoulder, let Yugi guide himself into the place.

Yugi met several of the dogs, some only untrained puppies.

"And this is Sebastian," the woman said.

The clicking of nails on the tile floors.

"Sebastian is a golden retriever and German shepherd mix," Lacey, the representative, mentioned off-handedly.

Yugi smiled and watched the mottled blond smear trot closer. A huff of hot, wet air on Yugi's hand. Yugi reached forward, gently set his hand on top of the dog's head. Soft, silky fur, ears that perked up with interest. The dog sat still, let Yugi pet him, then, when Yugi proffered his hand for another sniff, a gentle tongue lapped at his palm.

He felt the dog turn away, the brush of a furry, muscular flank on his leg, and then pressure on his foot.

A tail thumped between his feet.

Sebastian sat right on his feet.

Yugi laughed, and he reached forward to scratch behind one of those perky ears.

Seto and Lacey exchanged glances.

Yugi may not have chosen a dog, but a dog certainly chose him.

* * *

"So, you have to train with this dog for, like, four months?" Joey asked, took a loud, slurping sip of his drink.

Yugi nodded. "Yes, but he has to finish his own training first. Then we train together with supervision, and then he can live with us." Joey was silent, and Yugi frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I mean… It's nothing, I guess," Joey mumbled.

Yugi shrugged. "You can tell me what's on your mind."

"I guess it's just weird that you're so familiar with Kaiba and everything. You said 'live with us.'"

Yugi smiled, "Well, yeah, I literally live with him now. I'm going to get a little more familiar with him. And my statement was by no means inaccurate. Sebastian isn't going to be living with just me."

"I guess," Joey murmured. A beat of silence. "Nice shave, though. It looks a lot better now."

Yugi grinned, ran a hand along his jaw. It just barely stubbly again. "Thanks."

"How'd you manage it?"

Yugi's amusement bubbled up and out of his throat, and he snickered to himself. "I didn't."

He could all but  _hear_  Joey's confusion.

"I didn't manage it. Seto did."

"Seto."

"Yeah, he helped me," Yugi replied, cautiously lifted his water to his lips.

" _Seto_  helped you."

"That's what I said."

"Wow, when I said 'familiar,' I didn't realize you were on a first-name basis with him," Joey said, and his tone was decidedly snappish.

"Well, he's always called  _me_ by my first name," Yugi replied, and he felt himself bristle a little.

"Humph."

"Look, Joey, he's been really helpful, compassionate, and considerate." Yugi shook his head. "I don't even what to  _know_ what would have happened to me if I hadn't accepted his help." Yugi lifted a shoulder. "We've become close, and if you can't handle that, I really don't know what to tell you, Joey."

Joey snorted again, and Yugi felt his shoulders sag with disappointment.

* * *

Seto had come to sit next to Yugi on the veranda again. In the languid warmth of the evening sun, Yugi's eyes felt heavy with sleep.

"Joey's mad at me," Yugi murmured, turned his face slightly towards Seto.

Seto grunted. "What did you do?" Though it seemed that it didn't take much to incite Wheeler's anger.

"I called you 'Seto,'" Yugi replied, his eyebrow furrowing lightly. It had soured Joey's mood for the rest of their time together. Seto remained silent, but Yugi kept his face turned towards him. He blinked slowly. "I didn't know what to tell him."

"You don't have to tell him anything. How you decide to refer to people is none of his business,' Seto rumbled.

Yugi sighed. "I know. But I don't want to lose him over something like this."

"If he drifts away from you because of it, then he really wasn't much of a friend, was he?" Seto replied quietly.

To both of them, it felt like the conversation was layered with double meanings.

Yugi let his brows furrow tighter as his eyes drifted closed. "But…" and he trailed off, then sighed again. "I guess you're right. 'The ones that matter don't mind,' right?"

"Of course I'm right," and then Seto's thumb was rubbing between Yugi's brows, smoothing out the wrinkles and the tension there. Then his hand slid, tickled Yugi's skin, and it cupped his cheek, the pad of his tumb brushing Yugi's cheekbone.

Yugi hummed out a breath, leaned into that touch, laid his smaller hand over Seto's.

He tangled their fingers together. Seto gave his hand a barely-perceptible squeeze, but Yugi's lips still tilted into a sweet smile.

* * *

Wheeler picked up on the second ring.

"Is your head up your ass for the warmth?" Kaiba immediately snapped.

"Kaiba!" Wheeler snarled back, "How the hell did you get my number?"

"You're as dense as ever," Kaiba growled. "I own a multi-billion dollar tech company. Getting  _your_ number is relatively simple."

"Whatever. What the hell do you want? Remember that I can hang up on you at any moment."

Blue eyes rolled. "Likewise." He huffed indignantly. "You're being an idiot. Not surprising, all things considering-"

"- _Kaiba-_ "

"- but I really didn't expect you to let your stupidity hurt Yugi."

"... What?"

Kaiba felt his lip curl up into a snarl. "You heard me."

"I don't see how that's any of your business -"

"Look, Yugi spent most of yesterday moping around the house like some angsty teenager. It was distracting, and it affected my productivity. That made it my business. I don't like people moping around my house."  _Especially Yugi._ "You keep hurting his feelings, and I'm just getting sick of it." Joey inhaled, as if to speak again, but Kaiba plowed on. "You refuse to visit him simply because of where he lives, and now you shun him because of even more asinine reasons." Kaiba snorted derisively. "I remember being on the receiving end of several of your  _bonds of friendship_  lectures, and, I must say, you do not practice what you preach, Wheeler."

"You can't-"

"I've said my peace," Kaiba interrupted, and then he hung up.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. A tension headache was swirling around the lobes of his brain. He huffed out another breath, as if the exhale would exorcise some of the pain.

"Yugi should be glad I love him…" He grumbled to himself.

And then he froze.

And then he sagged in his seat, head tilted back.

His lips twitched into a small, private smile.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh... long time no see? Sorry this took so long. I decided that the last week of each month would be a week to devote myself to oneshots and whatnot, but I didn’t really finish any (and the ones I finished I was not satisfied enough with to post). That and I’ve just been wrestling with general writer’s block and good old-fashioned procrastination. I know, I know, this isn’t an excuse factory, but I feel like you guys deserve some type of explanation for my prolonged absence. (Ugh, at least I’m still updating most of my works for this fandom.)

Outside the windows, all was dark. The sky in the west had the faintest tinge of red-violet, but the rest was black velvet studded with stars. Seto absent-mindedly glanced to the clock on his computer. 10:03 PM.

He looked back down to the papers and blueprints before him. The warm glow of his desk lamp washed them in tones of yellow-orange.

He signed off on another blueprint, a flourish for the "T" and "I" in Seto Kaiba, and moved on to the next.

He frowned down at the large paper, his eye catching on clunky edges of the design, and scrolled through the CAD to find the corresponding 3D model.

It was just as boxy and awkward on the model.

He furiously clicked away. The white panel of an empty email flares across the screen, and he lowered his fingers to type away – what idiot made this design? –

_Knock knock knock_

The timid rapping of knuckles upon his door.

His head whipped up, blue eyes blinking, startled.

"... Seto…?"

Yugi.

He immediately stood, strode to the door, and hastily opened it. "Yugi?"

Sure enough, there he stood, violet eyes blinking, support cane in hand.

"What's wrong?" Seto blurted. Yugi had made the effort to traverse the stairs unsupervised for the first time.

In the near-dark.

A sheepish smile, and Yugi rubbed his elbow with his free hand. Seto blinked down at his bare chest and quickly tore his gaze away. "Can… can I come in?"

Seto backed away from the door. "Yeah."

Yugi edged forward and continuously swung his support cane in a wide, cautious arc.

Seto watched, watched Yugi explore until his support cane hit a leg of the bed. His other hand touched the mattress.

He looked over his shoulder. "Can I sit?"

Seto nodded, then nearly slapped himself. Yugi couldn't see him nodding.

Maybe Seto was more tired than he thought.

"Go ahead."

Yugi cautiously perched on the edge of the mattress, folded the long white cane, and set it next to his thigh. The defined tendons on the back of his slender hands flickered in the muted glow of the desk lamp.

"Nothing's wrong," Yugi said.

And Seto felt his brow furrowed before he remembered his own question to the young man before him.

Yugi sighed, lifted a shoulder. His dark hair trailed along his pale skin. It was just long enough to weigh it all down now. "Well, nothing's wrong _yet_."

"Hn." Seto closed the door, but remained there.

"I have a feeling… it's gonna be one of _those_ nights, y'know?" Yugi said, voice wrung out with exhaustion.

He sounded _miserable._

"So… I was wondering…" he bit his lip a moment, shoulders inching higher. "... If I could sleep here." His cheeks were furiously red. "With you."

Seto blinked.

The red reached Yugi's ears and crawled down his neck. "I mean – I'd get it if you said no, but – I thought it was worth asking, I know the last time was probably – probably a one-time thing – but – "

"Of course you can," Seto said, firm, but gentle, cutting clearly through Yugi's nervous rambling. "Of course you can sleep here."

 _With me_.

Yugi's breathed heaved out of his chest, and he deflated, relieved. "Thank you." He blinked, leaned back on his palms. "Sorry if I woke you up."

"No, I was still working on some paperwork. Probably will be for another hour or so, but… you can still lay down if you want. You can put your cane on one of the nightstands." Seto ambled back over to his desk.

Yugi hands traced on the dark blue comforter. "What… what side of the bed do you normally sleep on?"

Seto blinked at him.

Lately, he somehow ended up in the middle hugging the spare pillow. A strange habit he'd developed. (Though he knew exactly the root and its advent, but wouldn't quite admit it to himself most of the time, let alone to Yugi.)

"It doesn't matter to me."

Yugi nodded, crawled up to the top of the bed, set his cane on the nightstand, and began to burrow underneath the blanket and sheet. Seto watched the fabric blur the outlines of Yugi's form. That dark hair splayed on the pillowcase, and Yugi nuzzled the pillow happily. From where he sat at his desk, he could hear Yugi eagerly huffing the scent of the linens. The tension immediately left that small body, and he settled, melted into the bed.

Seto looked away, cheeks warm, and stared at the uncompleted email. A click.

**Save draft?**

A click.

**Draft deleted.**

He stared down at the blueprints. Then to the man curled up in his bed. He shifted them all into a neat pile. They didn't really need to be filed until next week, anyway.

Another sleepy sigh from the bed. Seto shut down his computer, stood, and flicked off the lamp. He was already in his sleep wear (if he was going to do work before bed he was going to do it in comfort, dammit), so all he had to do was walk over to the bed and begin tugging down the blankets.

Purple eyes, black in the near-perfect darkness, blinked up at him. "You're done already?"

Seto shrugged. "I shouldn't be staying up so late, anyway. Bad for my health."

"Hm," Yugi hummed. And then Seto was sliding between the sheets.

Seto could _feel_ Yugi stiffen, watched his shallow breaths. Seto edged closer, but not too close, still on his own side of the bed, and settled down. Gradually, Yugi relaxed, and he was backing up, wiggling to Seto's side.

Seto exhaled slowly, rolled onto his side.

They met in the middle, Yugi's back to Seto's chest. Seto draped an arm around Yugi's waist. Seto sighed sleepily, nuzzled the pillow, and, in turn, Yugi's dark, wild hair.

The warmth blossomed under the blankets, and Seto's eyes were falling shut, his breaths evening out.

"Night, Seto…" Yugi murmured.

"Night… Yugi…"

Yugi was so much warmer than a pillow.

* * *

When Yugi awoke, fire still raged behind his eyelids. He gasped for air, lungs burning with phantom pain, thrashed against the bonds holding him down. "Grandpa!" He shouted.

He had to get to him. He had to make it in time.

"Yugi," a voice murmured in his ear. The bindings tightened.

"No!" He yelped, squirming. Oh, god, he couldn't see, couldn't see.

" _Yugi_ ," the voice repeated, rough with sleep and fervent and gentle. "It's just me. You're all right."

Seto.

Yugi stopped writhing, but still he trembled, and he panted in confusion. Slender, warn hands stroked his hair, stroked his face.

"You're safe. I've got you."

Yugi slumped, but his heart raced away in his chest. "Seto…"

What he realized were arms held him tighter, and Yugu's fingers curled into the material of Seto's silky pajama shirt.

One of those hands petted his back in slow, soothing strokes.

Yugi sniffled.

"It was just a dream," Seto murmured into his ear. "Just a dream, Yugi."

Yugi nodded, pressed his face into Seto's neck.

"You're fine, you're safe, Grandpa's safe. Everything's fine," Seto whispered, all but _crooned_. "Go back to sleep, Yugi. I've got you."

"I-I'm s-sorry," Yugi whimpered.

Another soothing stroke, and then that big, warm palm was rubbing circles on his back. "You've got nothing to apologize for."

Yugi whimpered again, but the arms wrapped around him were too warm and felt too good to be tense for long, especially with Seto's soothing scent wrapped about him like a blanket. Eventually, he was slumping back into the mattress, lips parted for sleepy breaths.

He was far too gone to notice the kiss pressed to the top of his head.

* * *

Seto heard it as soon as he came home.

Bows dancing across strings, light, almost flitting, like little birds and butterflies composed of sound. Seto tilted his head. It wasn't classical, or one of the other well-studied music periods. It was modern.

Cellos, violins, the occasional thrum of a bass. It was pleasing, a menagerie of well-fitted sounds.

Seto followed the sound, to one of the sitting rooms.

At the threshold, the music was louder; it poured forth from the doorway, water from a pitcher. Afternoon light filtered into the room from the bay window. Curled up on the large sill, right in the sunlight, was Yugi, his white cane folded up next to him. With that warm glow, Yugi's bangs seemed to be molten gold. Vivid purple eyes blinked slowly, like sleepiness physically weighed down Yugi's lashes, despite the energetic _allegro_ tempo of the music.

Yugi sighed, content, his eyes finally sliding closed, his breath evening out. Seto leaned against the doorway, watched Yugi sleepily caress the pillow under his head before he stilled.

Yugi had fallen asleep.

Seto smiled, a fond, private smile, and stepped away quietly.

Before he knew it, he was back in his closet, pulling that case of the highest shelf. He brought it out, sat at the very edge of his desk chair, and set the case on the polished surface. Latches clicked, familiar and accursed.

He stared at that stained, polished wood, the long, blond horsehairs of the bow. He made a noise low in his throat. One eyebrow furrowed. He traced a finger along the bow.

He thought about the days when it was just him and his violin instructor. He thought about the days when he was too tired and mentally fried to even play a scale correctly, though he still tried his damnedest and came out mostly in tune. He thought about the days when he was sawing on those strings and playing pieces with which people twice his age and experience struggled. He thought about the days when countless old men would surround him, eye critically his little hands on the instrument as Gozaburo showed off his little charity case.

And he thought about that sanguine curl of Yugi's lips as he laid on the vast lawn of the Kaiba Estate, cords twining from his ears and his arms folded behind his head.

Gingerly, slender fingers plucked up that bow, rosined it with practiced care. The chin and shoulder rest needed adjustment to fit his now-larger body, but the angle his neck took to accommodate the instrument was all too familiar.

 _Pluck, pluck, pluck,_ and the strings vibrated. Seto winced. Of course it would be out of tune. He tightened and loosened some strings. _Pluck, pluck, pluck._ A few more adjustments, and then he was sliding the bow across the strings with just enough pressure to make sound. He played a slow scale, and the notes grew with volume as he fell back into the motion.

It _still_ needed tuning.

Seto growled.

He guessed that was just what happened when you leave your string instrument alone for so many years.

A ponderous chromatic scale, lilting and strange, and then he was satisfied. That was as well as he could do without a tuner.

He breathed out through his nose, ran through several scales in several keys to warm up. His lip curled. He remembered them all. (It wasn't too surprising; as it turned out, he was as good at the violin as he was at most things – he wasn't just a genius, but a _musically-inclined_ genius, too).

Sufficiently warmed up, he immediately fell into the first piece at the front of his mind.

Light, fast, the violin chirping almost like a flock of birds flitting from branch to branch.

Antonio Vivaldi's _Spring_.

His lip curled again as he sawed the bow gracefully, swiftly over the strings. He didn't miss a single note.

Seamlessly, he jumped to Beethoven's _Violin Sonata No. 9_ , then to Mozart's _Queen of the Night_ from his opera "The Magic Flute."

Corelli, Bach, more Vivaldi, Wagner, more Beethoven, more Vivaldi, Chopin, Brahms, more Vivaldi (Seto suddenly realized he must have a subconscious preference for Vivaldi, if he had to go by the sheer numbers of pieces he seemed to remember by that composer).

He played until a pager chirped. Dinner was done.

Stunned, he set the violin in his case.

He'd been… enjoying himself.

He thought about the sound of his violin, and, at dinner, he thought about playing for Yugi, playing for him during one of those inevitable and frequent times when they would inexplicably end up in each other's rooms, in each other's beds, playing for him until those brilliant violet eyes grew heavy with sleep, until the music followed him into his sweet dreams.

Because who could have nightmares to the sound of Vivaldi?

* * *

Yugi could only imagine how out-of-place Joey looked in the Kaiba manor. Not simply because of a perceived gap in class, but because of how awkward and stiff the other young man seemed. Yugi laughed to himself, shook his head.

“What?” Joey snapped. Fabric shuffled anxiously.

“I can _feel_ how tense you are,” Yugi replied, voice thick with amusement. “Relax. No one’s going to just pop out and attack you. Seto isn’t even home right now.” Yugi snorted to himself. Seto wouldn’t attack, anyway, maybe not physically. He was a bit more finicky than that, like a cat watching from afar with a sour gaze. Glaring around corners. Spitting and retreating when approached.

Yugi laughed again.

He could sense Joey’s stare boring holes into his face. So he gestured toward the couches he knew were positioned carefully in the center of the room.

“Why don’t we sit down? Make ourselves comfortable.”

He didn’t need his support cane to find a place to sit; he’d memorized the layout of not only this room but many in the manor. His own room, his bathroom, several sitting rooms, the dining room, the kitchen, entertainment rooms…

Seto’s room.

Not that he’d mention that to Joey.

He heard Joey settle down across from him; fabric whispering together, the creak of weight on a frame, air gasping from a cushion. He blinked. The smear of that garish green jacket amongst the sea of muted tones of the furniture.

“How have you been?” he asked quietly. Avoided the question he _really_ wanted to ask, or to bring up just how long it had been since last they met. A few weeks, now. The longest span of time they’d went without one another’s presence in a very long time.

They fell into easy chatter, and it seemed like those weeks of absence were smoothed over like wrinkles in a shirt.

Laughter, the warmth of their bond. Yugi wondered vaguely if it was the same feeling as having a brother.

A comfortable lull in the conversation suddenly stretched between them. Yugi breathed slowly, leaned his temple on his knuckles. Joey blew out a heavy exhale, one with sputtering lips and puffed out cheeks.

“Listen, Yug’,” Joey blurted, and then he was silent a few more moments, though his fidgeting occupied Yugi’s hearing just enough. “I’m sorry. About… well, everything.”

Yugi blinked. He stayed silent. Knowing Joey, this wasn’t quite the end.

“... I haven’t been a very good best friend lately. I haven’t really been there for you like I should have. I mean… Kaiba’s been a better friend to you than I have through all this…” he muttered.

Yugi lowered his eyes. “I really didn’t want to lose you over something like this, Joey… You have been acting a little silly lately. But I get it. I understand that change isn’t easy. Especially change that isn’t necessarily wanted.”

“It doesn’t make what I did okay, or even, like, justify it, y’know?” Joey sputtered to himself. “It’s got to be pretty bad when _Kaiba’s_ the one calling me and chewing me out, right?”

Yugi froze, eyes snapping back up, even if he couldn’t discern Joey’s expression or even his body language. “What?”

Joey chuckled, and Yugi imagined him rubbing the back of his neck in that sheepish way he was wont to do. “Yeah. He really gave me that what’s-what and who’s-who over the phone.”

Yugi could only blink.

“I mean, he obviously cares a lot about ya if he thought he had to call _me_ to set everything straight. Set _me_ straight.”

Yugi’s cheeks heated a little bit, and he shyly rubbed his hand on the arm of the chair to try and distract himself with the fabric’s texture under his warm palm.

Gentle, sleepy embraces. Hands stroking his hair. A guiding touch to the waist. Gentle fingers tipping his head back and the rasp of a shaving razor.

“He’s been good to me…” Yugi whispered. “I… I…” a huff of breath.

Joey chuckled. “I figured as much. You got a soft spot for the ones with soft spots.” Another snort. “Though a guy like Kaiba would deny having anything remotely resembling a soft spot.”

Yugi smiled. “Yeah, he would.”

* * *

 

Yugi touched his side. The corrugated scars from the skin graft rippled subtly beneath his fingertips. The action was subconscious: it was a thing he unwittingly took to doing when he was deep in thought. The sun was hot on him, and he kicked his legs in the conditioned water of the pool.

Seto set his jaw on his fist and watched. "Thinking about swimming?" Well, that much was obvious. Yugi was wearing _swim trunks_ after all.

Yugi nodded, looked over his shoulder.

Seto wondered if it was just trained behavior for Yugi to look to the person speaking to him.

"Go ahead. You're at the shallow end. If anything happens, I'm right here," Seto assured.

"You're right here," Yugi echoed, lips tightening and relaxing, and then he pushed himself into the water.

His sigh of delight was audible. Seto found himself smiling.

Actually, Seto found himself smiling a lot around Yugi.

Yugi cautiously waded further in, pale hands trailing across the surface. Seto watched his back move, blankly admired how the sun and shadows fell on his gently defined musculature. He paused, looked back over his shoulder as if for reassurance.

Seto laughed quietly. "Go ahead, Yugi."

Yugi smiled back, warm and trusting, and Seto nearly choked on his breath. Wreathed in light from the sun reflecting off the water, Yugi looked... angelic.

Yugi turned away, waded farther in. The sound of disturbed water lapped at the heat-heavy air. "It's so nice…" Yugi murmured, and he sank down, jerking a little when the cool liquid touched sensitive parts. He practically sat in the shallow end, leaned back on his palms. "So nice…"

Seto shook his head and grinned privately. His laptop laid forgotten on the table before him.

Yugi leaned father back, gasped and arched when the water climbed up between his shoulder blades.

Seto laughed again.

"Oh, shut up," Yugi muttered, kicked his feet gracefully.

Surrounded by summer sun and that light blue pool water, Yugi looked so damn pale. Though he seemed to be tanner since moving in to the mansion: his regular and frequent basking helped to darken his skin a little. Yugi didn't seem to tan easily, Seto realized.

"It's not my fault that you're so…" _Adorable._ Could he dare say it to Yugi's face?

"So…?" Yugi questioned, turning, facing Seto. His bangs and the drooping tips of his wild mane clung wetly to his pale skin.

Seto gulped. For more than one reason. "… Pathetic."

Yugi pursed his lips. "I'd like to see you somehow not have an otherwise perfectly human reaction."

Seto chortled. "You speak as if I'm human."

Yugi laughed, head tossed back. "You're right! I forget that you're basically a robot. Maybe that's why I've never even heard of you touching water; you'd short circuit."

A snort, and Seto readjusted himself in his seat. "Nonsense. Technology has advanced to the point where I hold no fear of water or other liquids."

Yugi hunkered lower in the water until it was lapping at his chin. "You probably design your own parts, huh?"

"Indeed. I can't trust anyone else to do it," Seto remarked haughtily.

Yugi laughed again, and Seto's cheeks warmed. And then he was staring intently in Seto's direction, and his voice was thick with amusement.

– Seto always found himself wondering what Yugi saw –

 "Then you wouldn't be opposed to swimming with me?"

Seto paused, glanced down at himself. He was in some board shorts and an old Duel Monsters T-shirt. "I'm not exactly equipped for swimming. Currently."

Yugi pouted again. "Party pooper. Just take your shirt off. Simple."

Seto frowned. He didn't like being half-clothed outside the privacy of his bedroom.

He didn't have anything to hide.

He just hated feeling so vulnerable.

Yugi shifted, but Seto could still see the discoloration, pale and dark and ragged, on his side through the water's distortion. Seto stood up, peeled his shirt over his head. He set it on the back of his chair. He toed his shoes and socks off and made sure his pockets were empty.

"I suppose board shorts aren't too different from swim trunks," Seto said with a theatrical sigh.

Yugi grinned. Edged forward in the water. Seemingly on his hands and knees. With that wild mane, Yugi reminded Seto of a lion seeking shelter from the African sun, now poised forward, playful and ready to pounce, rippling with excitement.

He just didn't know. He didn't know he could make someone other than Mokuba so happy with things so simple.

He stepped into the sunlight, up to the steps of the pool. He dipped a toe in.

It did _seem_ to be the perfect temperature. He stepped in. Cool water surged up to his ankles. Then to his lower shin. Then to his calves. Until he was steadily wading into the water.

He sighed. In this sweltering weather, the water really did feel damn good.

Then he was thigh-deep in water that Yugi was sitting in. "Are you just going to sit there or are you actually going to swim?" Seto rumbled, turning, walking backwards so he could keep Yugi in his line of sight.

Those unnerving, glittering purple eyes followed him vaguely. The corners were wrinkled by a broad, dazzling smile.

Yugi suddenly dunked his head in, dark hair a swirling cloud around him, and pushed off the bottom of the pool to swim toward Seto.

Seto laughed, backed up a couple more steps as he watched that dark hair and pale skin glide to him under that shimmering water. When Yugi came close, he gently touched Seto's leg, and then surfaced, panting for breath. His hair was absolutely soaked, plastered to his face and shoulders in gold and dark strands. He beamed up at Seto, one unseeing purple eye obscured by wet blond bangs.

"I guess I'll swim a little," he said, grinning and breathless.

Seto lifted a hand, but then Yugi was using Seto's body as leverage to push away. His wet, cool hands splayed on Seto's bare stomach for the briefest second and then he was gone, splashing away through the water.

Yugi was a surprisingly graceful swimmer. His breaststrokes were measured and even, and, when he skimmed the edge of the pool, he curled his fingers around the lip and launched off of it with his feet.

And when he came within three feet of Seto again, he surfaced. "Are _you_ just going to stand there?" He asked, eyebrow arching.

"Well --" and then Seto was sputtering through a mouthful of chlorine water. It dripped down his face and dangled from strands of his hair. He blinked at Yugi. "Did you just splash me?"

Yugi giggled, submerged himself until the water covered his smirking lips. He nodded.

Seto narrowed his eyes. "You little…" and then he was lunging through the water.

Yugi laughed aloud, surged away on a backstroke.

Seto snarled, lurching after him. Yugi may have been a graceful swimmer, but Seto was a faster one; he caught that slim waist in his hands, hoisted him up and out of the water. Water cascaded around them, gleamed like diamonds in that exuberant sunlight. Laughter pealed from Yugi, his head whipped back, hair flopping and water spraying, and his slender hands scrambled on Seto's wet shoulders.

"You'll pay for that, Yugi," Seto growled, and he shifted his hands to toss Yugi back into the water. Slim pale legs wrapped around his bare waist and clenching with surprising strength.

"N-No – please," Yugi gasped out between laughs. "I-I'm—" another string of giggles "— I'm sorry, Seto."

"You don't sound sorry," Seto hissed. His lips twitched up, down into a frown, and then into a wavering straight line.

"I _am_." Yugi's face was flushed. His warm body trembled laughter against Seto’s tall form. "I _am_ sorry."

"Hn, I don't believe it," and then Seto was trying to pry Yugi off of him.

Yugi tightened his legs even more, and he wrapped his arms around Seto's shoulders, his hands in that slightly-damp brown hair. "C'mon, Seto, just…" he laughed, "just accept a hug as my formal apology."

" _Accept_ a hug? As if you're giving me any choice right now…" Seto rumbled. His hands slipped up, and he distantly noted the strange texture of Yugi's skin graft.

Yugi giggled, head tipping to one side, his wet hair dangling down and brushing Seto's face and neck. Seto suddenly realized how close their faces were. Yugi's huffing, gasping breaths fanned and cooled Seto's wet face. Pool water adhered their bare chests to one another.

Seto's heart pounded in his throat, and with shaking hands, he returned Yugi's embrace. Their noses brushed together. Yugi smelled like skin and pool water and suntan lotion.

Yugi's smile fell away, but… those violet eyes rippled with warmth, and a hot chill speared down Seto’s spine when he realized that they were peering right into his own.

"This close…" Yugi began quietly, fingers curling into Seto’s wet hair, "I can _see_ how blue your eyes are."

Seto's breath caught in his throat. "Yugi…"

Yugi shifted his hands, his thumbs on Seto's cheeks, his fingers splaying out over Seto's neck and hairline. Even closer, now, if at all possible. Their lips weren’t touching, but Seto’s skin tingled with that teasing proximity. "Seto, I'm going to kiss you."

Seto’s fingers clutched hard at those slender flanks, felt lean muscle and soft skin and hard bone give and resist beneath his grasp. "O-Okay," Seto breathed.

That barest distance between them suddenly closed.

Yugi kissed him, so sweetly, so gently, and his thumbs continuously skimmed dover Seto's sharp cheekbones. Seto sighed, content, shifted his hold again, drew Yugi tighter against him, as if the water could dissolve them and they’d blend into one being.

And then Yugi was drawing away, just an inch, laughing softly – almost disbelieving – his breaths fluttering on Seto's face, and then they were both leaning in and locking lips again. Seto cupped the back of Yugi's neck, threaded his fingers through that wild hair (soft and wet and so thick it immediately tangled around his trembling digits), and deepened the kiss, mouths moving just slightly as they turned from gentle to passionate.

"Hm," Yugi was humming with delight, his own hands sinking into Seto's thick hair again to grip and caress. Seto's scalp tingled but so did the rest of him.

 _Yugi, Yugi, Yugi,_ it bounced around in his head like a pinball, rapped off the edges of his skull with concusive force, and it echoed until it was spilling from his lips in a breathless huff. “Yugi…”

Yugi panted against his lips, then nipped at them with his own. The slide of a wet tongue over Seto's lower lip, and Seto shuddered, his knees suddenly weak. Those violet eyes were half-lidded, molten with amusement and affection and the dazzling light of the summer sun.

"You taste like chlorine," Yugi noted bluntly, "and coffee."

"The chlorine is _your_ fault," Seto grumbled, and he brushed his teeth against Yugi for the briefest second. "And it's not like you're any better."

"Mmm," Yugi simply hummed, "I don't mind it," and then they were kissing again.

Yugi shifted, teasingly rubbed his feet and calves over Seto's back and thighs as their kisses became light, quick, playful.

Seto sighed again, breathless and just so filled with warmth, unmatched by anything, even this brilliant summer heat. God. He could kiss Yugi all day long.

Both were so caught up in their affections that neither heard the sound of the glass door sliding open.

"Lunch is d— holy shit."

The two whipped their heads toward the door, but their bodies were still wrapped tightly around one another and their embrace tightening with surprise.

Mokuba's lilac eyes blinked widely, his face beet red. "I saw this coming but I didn't think it would happen right in front of my face."

Yugi laughed, blushing, resting his cheek on Seto's shoulder. Seto only sputtered, face blistering hot, but Yugi spoke for him. "Lunch is done, you were saying?"

"Yeah," and then Mokuba was promptly marching back into the house and firmly shutting the sliding door behind him.

Yugi kissed Seto's shoulder then his cheek sweetly. "Hungry?"

Seto nuzzled Yugi's throat as if to hide his face from the world. "I could eat," he mumbled into Yugi's neck.

Yugi petted his hair. "Then let's go."

Seto grumbled.

"I'm not embarrassed," Yugi murmured. "You're the only person I want to be caught kissing."

They both remained silent a moment, let the meaning of those words seep into the very air around them.

And then Seto kissed Yugi's jaw, the barest brush of lips on skin. "Then let's go eat."

They disentangled, but, somehow, their fingers intertwined. Yugi's thumb rubbed Seto's knuckles as they waded out of the pool. Seto grabbed the towel off the table that had been set there earlier, and he tenderly dried Yugi's hair, rubbed and ruffled those crazy, dark locks. Vivid purple eyes blinked at him from under the edge of the fluffy material. Seto paused a moment, and leaned back down to brush their lips together chastely. Yugi giggled, laid his palms on Seto's chest as Seto continued on with his rather self-indulgent drying of Yugi's hair, face, neck, and torso.

Yugi gripped Seto's wrist gently. "My turn."

It seemed like a new level had been unlocked. A new level of physicality, intimacy. They could indulge in the simple touches they yearned for all along.

Yugi was much slower; he dried Seto's hair with almost massage-like care, gently patted Seto's cheeks, mapped out along his neck and shoulders and chest. Exploratory, tender. Seto's cheeks flushed, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the curious, wondrous expression on Yugi's face. Lips parted, the centers of his eyebrows drawn down in concentration.

His fingers brushed the waistband of Seto's shorts, and then his eyebrows were tilting up, cheeks dimpling as he laughed. "Your shorts are soaked."

They were uncomfortable, too.

"It's…" Seto thought about Yugi's lips again, thought about his face flushed and breathless from laughter. "Worth it."

Yugi beamed up at him, set the towel aside. His hands skimmed up Seto's chest and neck to cup his face, but Seto was already leaning down to kiss him again.

Yugi made a noise of pleasure deep in his throat, but drew away, receded like the tide. They held hands and walked into the house.

There were still wet footprints and drops of water trailing behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TIME TO SEE THE DENTIST FOR ALL THESE CAVITIES.  
> BRUSH YOUR TEETH BEFORE BED, KIDDIES.


	9. Chapter 9

Between one breath and the next, they were both suddenly in his bedroom. 

Seto had planned on doing some paperwork before bed, but after the day's pool adventure, his body was feeling languid and his eyes heavy. 

Now, he was nervous.

Yugi was in his room again.

But everything was different. 

Seto couldn't hide behind the little wall they had put between them for so long.

Yugi, already decked in his pajamas for the evening -- flannel pants and no shirt (and Seto was trying so hard not to look for signs that weren't there, because Yugi hardly  _ ever  _ wore a shirt to bed anyway), padded in farther. He yawned cutely. He walked in Seto's room with such confidence, and before long he was already burrowing his way into the blankets on Seto's bed.

His appreciative inhale was audible from where Seto stood.

Yugi groaned in delight. "You smell so good!" He'd probably said, but it was severely muffled by the pillow pressed against his face. He lifted his head up to speak more clearly. "Everything in here smells like you and I love it."

Seto smiled smugly, but didn't say anything, only approached the bed cautiously.

What if Yugi wanted  _ more _ ? Already. Seto couldn't do that. He wasn't ready for that. It would hardly be his first time --

\-- but never before had it felt so  _ important _ . That it had to be done the  _ right way _ . This was Yugi, and Seto wouldn't give him any less than he deserves.

Yugi all but purred in happiness as he rubbed himself on the linens in delight.

Yugi deserved the world.

Yugi paused, propped himself up a moment. "What's taking you so long? The best part about sleeping in  _ your  _ bed is that  _ you're  _ here."

Seto sat on the very edge of the bed, and Yugi flopped over. His mussed hair splayed over the pale blue sheets and darker blanket. He wrapped his arms around Seto's waist. His next words were spoken against Seto's outer thigh. "Not quite what I meant, but I guess it's good enough."

Seto chuckled, still a little tensely, but reached down to stroke that long, dark hair. 

Yugi looked good with long hair, Seto decided with conviction. 

Yugi all but purred, turned his head so his cheek was pressed against Seto's leg. He blinked languidly up at Seto. "Why so tense, Seto?" He tenderly traced his fingers on Seto's side. 

Seto gulped. "I'm not."

Yugi hummed, disbelieving. "Sure."

Seto didn't reply, only continued to run his fingers through that wild hair. 

Yugi suddenly pulled away and sat up, his hair flowing away like water between Seto's fingers. One hand tenderly touched Seto's face. Yugi's palm was hot, like a brand, and Seto imagined a hand-shaped mark being left behind on his face. 

But what caught Seto's attention most were those beautiful violet eyes. Even in blindness -- or, perhaps,  _ especially  _ in blindness -- they were so expressive. 

Yugi leaned forward and up, pressed his lips first on Seto's other cheek, then his nose, then his lips, each kiss so slow and sweet. 

"Let's go to sleep, Seto," he whispered. "I'm tired and I want to cuddle with you."

Seto nodded beneath Yugi's touch. "Okay."

Yugi flopped back onto the bed, scooted to make room for Seto. Seto didn't have to pull the disheveled blankets back far before he could stick his feet under. 

"You made a mess, Yugi."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't see any mess."

Seto spluttered a laugh at that, collapsing back against the pillow. "It's amazing that you can joke about it."

"Pfft.  _ You're  _ the one taking the whole sheets thing too seriously. Of course I can joke about bed linens." And then Yugi was scooting closer again.

Seto didn't even have to think; it was second-nature at this point to wrap an arm around Yugi's smaller form and snuggle him into his chest. 

Of course it wouldn't be any different.

He pressed a kiss to the top of Yugi's head. "Yugi…"

"Hmmmm?" The hum tickled Seto's skin.

"Goodnight."

"'Night, Seto."

* * *

Sugoroku breathed in the sweet summer air and sighed in content. The flowering trees near their outdoor table at a small restaurant colored the wind so beautifully. He wondered why he didn’t appreciate this natural splendor more when he was a young buck looking for adventure.

He looked across the table.

Yugi was leaned back in his chair, and he breathed slowly between gentle sips of his drink. Their empty plates had long been cleared away. His sightless purple eyes -- their color so like Sugoroku’s own -- blinked slowly, at an almost sleepy pace. Sugoroku wondered where Yugi got his calm wisdom, that relaxed grace, his carefree, selfless nature.

Sugoroku wondered why his grandson was still such an angel when life had been nothing but cruel to him in return.

Sugoroku found himself wondering a lot, these days.

“What a beautiful day,” he sighed.

Yugi hummed his agreement. “It is. I wonder what flowers they have around here. They smell really good.”

“I’m not sure,” Sugoroku replied. Flowers really weren’t his thing. He swallowed thickly a moment. There were many things he wanted to say, but he wasn’t sure what words to use or how to use them. Or if this were even the right time to bring it up, when so much time had passed since it had happened. 

Maybe, Sugoroku wondered, he had become a coward in his old age.

“Yugi…” he said, and those blind eyes were affixed to him in that strangely intense manner.

Yugi said nothing in return, only waited for his grandfather to continue.

“You’ve sacrificed many things for my sake, without being asked, without my saying that I wanted or needed it.” Yugi didn’t go to college, simply so he could help take care of Sugoroku in his deteriorating health. Yugi spent most of the money he made in his dueling career on repairs for the game shop or Sugoroku’s piling medical bills. And Yugi gave up his vision to save his grandfather from a fire that rendered many of those repairs futile. “Not that I’m not thankful. I could never express how thankful I am that you are in my life, that you help me so much, without a second thought. Without a second thought to your own well-being… your own happiness."

Yugi shook his head slowly, "Grandpa, I was  _ never  _ unhappy helping you. The thought of leaving you behind to struggle on your own,  _ that  _ made me unhappy." He smiled, so soft and tender. "And I'm not unwell. I'm perfectly healthy. Hell, I'm slowly becoming a functional member of society again." 

"What you sacrificed --"

"You've sacrificed more than enough to take care of  _ me _ , Grandpa." Yugi turned his head away, and Sugoroku wondered what he saw that could garner such an intense gaze. "You could've let Mom and I go. You could've turned us away. You could've kicked me out when she left. But you didn't. You raised me in her stead, when you could've spent the rest of your days in peace at the game shop." Yugi touched his chest where the Puzzle used to rest. "And all the trouble I brought you…"

"Yugi, you're  _ family _ . Of course I took care of you."

"Exactly, Grandpa," Yugi said, and for once, his voice trembled. "You're all I have left. I couldn't leave you behind, I couldn't let you get hurt."

Sugoroku bravely fought back tears. And all he could think was that it  _ didn't  _ matter that he was all that was left of Yugi's family; Yugi would have saved  _ anyone _ .

Sugoroku Muto's grandson was an angel.

Silence fell over the pair.

Yugi shifted forward, rested his elbows on the table. "Look, Grandpa, I have something to tell you."

Sugoroku frowned. "What is it, Yugi?"

Yugi was pale, unsure. "W-Well, y'know how Seto has taken us in and everything, b-but uh… Seto and I…" He gulped. "We're…"

"I know, Yugi," Sugoroku said. "I know what young people in love look like."

Yugi's cheek bloomed a brilliant red. "I just," he chuckled sheepishly, "with everything that happened when we were younger --"

"Water under the bridge, Yugi."

"-- and him being a guy and all --"

"That hardly matters."

"-- I was just a little nervous about telling you." Yugi scratched his cheek. "You can never really tell how people react to these things."

"Even if I were to take it badly, I've had plenty of time to get used to the idea," Sugoroku said off-handedly. 

Yugi's eyebrows rose quizzically. 

"Most young men don't sleep in the same bed for nights on end, Yugi," Sugoroku explained wryly. 

Yugi's face grew ever redder. He could only lift a shoulder in a shrug. 

"I think I saw this coming before you did," Sugoroku laughed. 

"No, I'm pretty sure I saw this coming, too," Yugi chuckled.

"Hm." Sugoroku rubbed his beard in thought. "I noticed when you were first in the hospital. That young man was hovering about like some lost spirit."

Yugi frowned. "What?"

Sugoroku nodded gravely, though he soon remembered Yugi couldn't see it anyway. "Yes. Walking by in the hallway, sometimes stopping to peek in when he thought no one would notice."

"I… I didn't know that."

"Nearly from the day you got there."

"But that doesn't mean, y'know…" Yugi began shyly.

"No, it doesn't, but that also doesn't mean that I didn't see it coming," Sugoroku explained. 

"I… I guess…" Yugi murmured. 

"As long as you're happy, Yugi, I don't care who you love. Of all the people I've met in all my years, never have I known someone who deserves happiness as much as you do."

Yugi smiled, tremulous with tears. "I am happy, Grandpa."

"Then I'm satisfied." 

And they enjoyed the rest of their time in silence.

* * *

Seto glanced over the edge of his laptop again. 

Mokuba sat on the other side of the table. His cheek was propped on his fist, and his grayish eyes scrutinized his older brother with the most curious intensity. 

Seto's lip twitched, but he looked back down to the text on his screen. He scrolled, replied to emails, reviewed memos and itineraries and blueprints. He could still feel Mokuba's eyes boring holes into his forehead.

He sighed, shifted, raised his eyebrows. "Do you need something, Mokuba?"

Mokuba shook his head slowly. But he didn't look away. 

"Then cut it out! You're being very distracting!" Seto hissed. 

"I'm just… fascinated," Mokuba murmured. "I've never seen you like this."

Seto gave him am exasperated expression. "Like what? Trying to work?"

"No…" Mokuba said in that slow Kaiba tone (the tone used when the person they were talking to was acting like a dunce). "So… free. Relaxed. Comfortable in your skin."

"Whatever," Seto grumbled. 

"I mean it," Mokuba insisted. "I never noticed it before, but, you were  _ really  _ tense. On-edge. All the time. Twenty-four-seven." He was quiet a moment, eyes narrowing in thought as he absently played with his hair. “It took seeing you act differently to realize it had even been happening.”

Seto’s lips parted and moved a little, but nothing came out.

“Yugi’s been good for you,” Mokuba said softly. “Spending time with him and everything.”

Seto once again couldn’t bring himself to say anything. It was one of those rare times when Seto Kaiba had no idea what to  _ think _ , let alone say.

“Maybe his optimism is rubbing off on you,” Mokuba said, and his smirk was audible.

“Like hell,” Seto growled.

Mokuba laughed.

It wasn’t until later that the thought came to Seto --

If Yugi could keep on smiling even when his whole world was going dark and crumbling around him, what had been stopping Seto the whole time?

* * *

“Mm, is this a date, Seto?” Yugi asked playfully.

Seto growled. “Just put the damn thing on.”

Yugi held up the hanger. “Where are we going that requires me to wear a suit?”

“It’s a surprise,” Seto said drolly.

“It sounds like a date…” Yugi sang. He leaned closer, touched Seto’s face for guidance before he pressed a chaste kiss to Seto’s lips.

Seto found himself leaning forward, following Yugi’s retreating lips even as he turned away to march into the bathroom.

“I might need help putting this on,” he called over his shoulder. “I’ll call for you.”

Seto gulped. He flushed hotly, his skin prickling, and he distracted himself with his own change of clothes. He was just straightening his tie when the door to the bathroom opened. 

“Why are there so many buttons?” Yugi said with a breathless laugh. “I really don’t think something needs  _ this _ many buttons, Seto.” His shirt dangled open, as did the vest and jacket over it.

“You should’ve just done it one piece at a time,” Seto said, shaking his head and smiling.

Yugi pursed his lips and cautiously ventured closer. “Well, maybe I just want your help. Ever think of that, Mr. Genius?"

Seto laughed again, and he stepped closer. He dropped his hands to the shirt buttons. Occasionally, his fingers inadvertently brushed bare flesh, and each time a shock of awareness licked up Seto's spine. Yugi was silent, violet, sightless eyes affixed unnervingly upon Seto's face. 

"And you say you want to be more independent," Seto said in a mock-condescending voice.

"Hey, I don't have enough dignity to  _ not  _ play the damsel-in-distress card if it means getting close to you now," Yugi said, half-jokingly, half-tenderly.

"You don't have to do that," Seto murmured, leaning down. He could feel Yugi's breath on his lips. "Hell, you don't even have to ask."

"Oh?" Yugi hummed, arching up for a kiss, but Seto pulled away just enough to keep it from happening. "Is the one and only Seto Kaiba admitting that he likes physical human contact?"

Seto chuckled, a purring, rumbling sound, and Yugi visibly shivered. "Maybe just with you."

"I can't believe it," Yugi said, the back of his hand held to his forehead as if he were about to swoon. "Seto Kaiba is  _ flirting  _ with me."

Seto frowned at him. "It's hardly the first time."

Yugi smirked, mischievous and delighted. "It's the first time you've been so  _ obvious _ ." He slowly reached forward, and his palms slid along Seto's suit jacket before his fingers curled into the lapels. "I like it." He gently tugged Seto down.

A sweet huff of breath, and then Yugi was brushing their noses together. Perhaps he intended it to be sweet and cute, and perhaps it was on some level, but it seemed so incredibly  _ sensual _ . Seto’s breath trembled on his next inhale. Their lips ghosted together, collided softly like fluttering butterflies.

Seto shivered.

_ Definitely _ sensual.

Seto bit down a soft, moaning sigh and pulled back. “We need to get going,” he croaked.

Yugi pouted and pointed to his vest and jacket. “I still have buttons that need fastening.”

Seto snorted at him. “Tuck in your shirt first, or do you expect me to do that, too?”

Yugi’s dark eyebrows winged up expectantly.

“No,” Seto said firmly.

Yugi’s head tilted, and it seemed like his eyebrows would climb right off his face. 

“ _ No _ .”

“Aw, c’mon. Don’t act like you don’t want to put your hands all over me,” Yugi said, and his shoulders shook with restrained laughter. But even as he talked, he tucked his shirt tails into the waistband of his pants.

A vein pulsed in Seto’s forehead, and he was sure he’d never felt his face get so hot before. “You little brat.”

“That’s me!”

* * *

Yugi looked far too good in a suit, Seto thought for what seemed like the millionth time that evening. All slim, defined lines, hard planes and soft edges. Smooth. His hair, tied back loose and low near the ends, looked so distinguished. The red tie Seto had picked brought out his violet eyes to an intensity so vivid Seto deliriously wondered if he’d pulled the color straight from some lurid dream. 

“Hm, a fancy restaurant?” Yugi guessed, and he was dead on the mark. “You know, I can’t exactly be impressed by these things if I can’t see them,” he said jocularly as they walked into the establishment.

“Hn. We’d already be dressed formally for the evening, and I thought it would be more than a bit awkward if we decided to eat at a place with a less stringent dress code,” Seto explained.

"Mm, sure. You just want to show me off to all the other rich people but you just won't admit it," Yugi said, vulpine and smirking. 

Seto's hand slid slowly, up and down, from between Yugi's shoulder blades to the small of his back. "That, too, I suppose."

Yugi laughed, tinkling and delighted. Seto's own grin grew. 

He suddenly wondered if he ever smiled as much as he did with Yugi. 

The host had but to look at them before he was gathering up two menus. "Reservation for Kaiba?"

Seto only raised a brow.  _ Of course _ .

Yugi elbowed him right in the ribs. Seto hissed and glared down. "Answer him. You're being rude," Yugi whispered.

"How do you know I didn't nod, Yugi?" Seto growled back.

"I know  _ you _ , and you wouldn't just  _ nod _ . You probably gave him some sarcastic expression that all but screamed, 'No shit, Sherlock.'"

"You can't possibly know that," Seto hissed.

"Well, I do," Yugi replied. He turned his head in the direction of the host. "Yes, reservation for Kaiba."

Seto rolled his eyes, the corner of his lip wavering between a snarl and a grin. 

"For being so wealthy, you certainly are uncouth," Yugi said with a giggle as they were led away, Seto's hand still upon his back. 

Seto feigned a high-pitched voice and parroted Yugi's words back to him. (Though Yugi's voice, in his maturation, had actually become deeper than Seto's own.)

Yugi only laughed.

Seto pulled out Yugi's seat for him, and the host smiled brightly -- perhaps out of amusement for their antics, Seto wasn't sure and didn't care -- and laid out a single menu out of the two in his hands. He probably assumed correctly and believed Yugi couldn't make much use of one. 

"Can I start you off with something to drink? Perhaps some wine?"

Yugi smiled politely and shook his head. "Water is fine for me."

"I'll second that," Seto added.

The host walked away, and Yugi leaned his elbow on the table, his chin in his palm. "Hm, I was torn between thinking you'd want us to enjoy some fine wine and you wanting us to be perfectly sober for the second part of our evening."

Seto chuckled. "We can always drink wine where we're going. Besides, wine makes you sleepy."

Yugi hummed, "That's true."

Seto opened the menu. "I didn't think about whether or not this place has Braille menus."

Silly as it may be… sometimes he forgot about Yugi's blindness. Yugi didn't let it define him. 

"It's okay. Read it to me," Yugi said quietly. "I like it when you read to me."

Seto stared at that sweet face. Normally, it was random things, like an article he found online or some email he was ranting about. 

Maybe he should read to Yugi more often.

He imagined it, Yugi curled into him like a contented cat as he calmly narrated a novel to him before bed. Yugi's head on his chest, his own hand occasionally stroking through that wild hair and petting Yugi's bare back or side, perhaps holding one defined hip. 

He gulped and shook the thought away. He could daydream later, when he didn't have the object of his fantasies sitting right in front of him. 

So he steadily read the menu aloud, and Yugi sighed with content and genuinely contemplated his appetite for the evening. 

He picked a simple dish, a little light, and Seto chose something along the same lines. The waiter rushed off with their orders. 

And Seto watched Yugi relaxedly lay his hand and arm on the table. Seto blinked, cheeks warm, his own hand inching forward until their fingers were brushing. Yugi smiled, small and private and gentle, and Seto felt like the only other man in the world. He laced their fingers together. Yugi's thumb brushed over his knuckles, and Seto gave his hand the gentlest squeeze. 

"I'm happy," was all Yugi said.

And Seto's thoughts raced. 

But he only said one thing in return;

"I am, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there's the first date part 1. Next chapter will continue where this left off. 
> 
> Sorry about the wait. I've been stuck. And busy. Which doesn't help with the stuckness.
> 
> Also, this was my dipping my toe into the idea of increasing the rating on this. If you guys are all like "GET YOUR LECHEROUS TOE OUT OF MY WHOLESOMENESS!" I will promptly remove said toe. It's all up to you guys, in the end. And if it's 50/50 or whatnot I'll just post any… escalated content elsewhere so it can still be enjoyed by those who desire it.
> 
> Anywho, thanks for your patience, and thanks for reading! I'll see you next time!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really just a mote of dust in the fathomless space of fanfiction, so it honestly amazes me that this story has received so much wonderful attention. I’d like to thank all of you for joining me on this Rivalshipping journey. (This sounds like a goodbye, but I promise you it isn’t; I just wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to all of you wonderful readers out there). Now, let’s get on to Date Night Part 2!

When they crossed the threshold, the scent inundated Yugi’s senses. Expensive perfume, designer cologne, the faint tang of wine-stained breaths. The soft, warm lighting faded into his limited vision. The low chatter of voices, murmuring in the comfortable air. The faint tinkling of champagne flutes.

“Where are we, Seto?” Yugi whispered, fingers curling tighter around the ones in his grasp.

Seto’s voice was close to his ear, hot breath fanning on the cartilage, “We’re at the theater, Yugi.” 

Yugi’s lips parted softly, and he let Seto guide him farther into the building. His eyebrows drew up with confusion. He couldn’t watch a play, or see an opera. What were they doing here?

Seto must’ve seen the confoundment on his face, because he chuckled, low, fondly. “We’re going to listen to a performance by the Domino City Orchestra, Yugi.”

And suddenly, Yugi’s cheeks were hurting from his wide grin. “Really?”

Seto’s thumb rubbed along his tenderly. “Yes. We have a private balcony. The best seats money can buy.”

Yugi turned, wrapped himself around Seto’s arm and laid his cheek on Seto’s shoulder. “You’re wonderful…” he murmured, and quickly let go when he realized how stiff the arm in his embrace had become.

That’s right. Seto might not like too much PDA.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. 

But then a big hand was brushing his bangs from his face, fingertips lingering on the curves of his cheeks. The pad of a thumb skimmed his lower lip, and Yugi smiled softly. 

“I thought you’d like it,” Seto’s voice was but a low rumble. “C’mon. Let’s find our seats and get comfortable.”

“Okay,” Yugi whispered. And they were walking, shoes padding on carpet, the Doppler effect of voices passing by, group by group, and then stairs, lights dimming, a man asking them for their tickets and Seto silently flashing them.

“Yes, Mister Kaiba, right this way.”

More steps, the light warm and dim and luxurious, velvety reds blurring in Yugi’s vision, and then they were turning.

“Here are your seats. Would you like some wine or other refreshments?”

“Yugi?” Seto asked, thumb swiping along Yugi’s again.

Yugi shook his head. “I’m fine.”

“We’re good for now.” A pause, in which Yugi’s elbow found Seto’s ribs again. “Nf.  _ Thank you _ .” Feet fading away, fabric rustling and then settling. “God _ damn _ . What the fuck are your elbows made out of, Yugi?”

“If you would just use proper manners, you wouldn’t have to worry about it,” Yugi replied with no small amount of snarkiness.

Seto grumbled, and he guided Yugi around to sit. The cushions sank beneath his diminutive weight, and he leaned back slowly, felt the seat embrace his back.

“Soft,” he commented quietly. He heard Seto sit next to him. Ever curious about his surroundings, he brushed his hands over the armrests. The one between him and Seto could be raised or lowered. He left it down for now. The one to the other side had a small pouch with a pamphlet tucked inside. “What’s this?”

Seto shuffled around, thumbing through his own pamphlet. “A program. It has all the pieces they’ll be playing in the order that they’ll be playing, and special notes on each piece and the musical period they were composed in. Seems like they want the audience to read this to spare them from long speaker commentary.”

Yugi squeezed Seto’s hand lightly, and slowly leaned in to set his chin on the other man’s arm. “How much time do we have before the performance starts?”

Seto lifted up their combined hands and curled his wrist in to check his watch. “About fifteen minutes.”

Yugi nuzzled Seto’s arm. That delightful scent filled his lungs and warmed all of his muscles. “Read it to me?”

The hand in his own was suddenly gone, and then it was on his shoulder and gently pushing him away. Yugi bit back a disappointed frown, but couldn’t restrain his smile when the armrest was lifted away and Seto was dragging him closer, one lean arm draping around Yugi’s shoulders. Yugi nestled deeper into Seto’s side and rested a warm cheek on his expanding and contracting chest. He felt and heard Seto’s rumbling chest as he quietly recited the words on the pamphlet. The hand on his arm gently stroked, and Yugi could feel it even through his suit jacket sleeve. 

Seto read as much of the program as they could cover before the lights were dimming even more, and then the long tones of the orchestra tuning a quick minute before the concert began. There was no announcer; they dove right into the music. 

Soft string music curled over the air and sank into the red velvety walls and into the ears of the audience.

Yugi’s eyes fell closed, and he smiled softly.

* * *

Yugi was a warm, familiar, comfortable presence tucked into his side. Those vivid purple eyes were closed, and if Yugi’s fingers weren’t drumming softly where they were resting on Seto’s knee, he would’ve thought the other man asleep. 

In fact, Seto was paying more attention to his date than he was to the music at this point. When the tension in the music rose, so did Yugi’s, his muscles tightening and stiffening under Seto’s arm, his eyebrows drawing up and together and his lips pressing into a firm line. Yugi was a reflection of the music, thrumming with energy when the violins chirped and danced like birds, slumping when the tempo slowed and the cellos called softly through the theater. One piece was sweet and yearning, the violas crying tenderly, the bass a gentle sigh beneath, and Yugi nuzzled closer, his thumb stroking Seto’s knee.

Seto didn’t feel the affectionate smile on his lips, only felt Yugi’s thick hair beneath his hand and between his fingers when he petted it slowly. A purring sigh, and Yugi melted further against him.

“Thank you,” Yugi whispered.

Seto couldn’t bring himself to answer, so he simply pressed his lips to the top of Yugi’s head. 

The intermission came about. “Do you want anything?” he asked Yugi quietly.

“Nnnn,” Yugi hummed, straightening a moment to stretch. “No.”

Seto frowned at the loss of warmth.

“Do you?” Yugi’s voice was low and soft like the velvet on the walls. 

_ I’ve got all I want right here _ .

“No, I’m fine.”

Yugi chuckled. “Well, I hope you’re not planning on getting up soon.”

Seto parted his lips to speak, but Yugi was close again, resuming their previous positions, altered a little for greater comfort.

“You’re the perfect height for this,” Yugi murmured. “Forget all those expensive pillows. I’ve got the best one right here.”

“Hey,” Seto began in a mock-stern voice. “This pillow has a name. I don’t like it when you objectify my body, Yugi.”

Yugi giggled. “Sh, pillows aren’t supposed to talk back.”

“This pillow’s about to kick your scrawny, pasty ass.”

Yugi lifted up a finger and purposely missed Seto’s lips when he drew it sloppily across Seto’s face. “Shhhhhh.” He patted Seto’s cheeks. “You like my ass too much to kick it, anyway.”

Seto grumbled playfully, though his face heated with a faint blush.

“Ah, see, no denial. I  _ knew _ I have a great ass.”

“You’re a smartass, that’s what you are.”

“It’s better than being a dumbass.”

“Touche.”

They laughed, and Seto pushed Yugi’s cheek up with a single finger to steal a chaste kiss. Yugi sighed happily against his lips, and then he was settling, putting his cheek back on Seto’s chest, this time a little closer to his collarbone, and they chatted quietly as they waited for the concert to continue.

Seto tilted his head back and let his eyes fall closed. Best date ever, by far.

* * *

“Hurry,” Seto said as they stood up from their seats at the end of the concert. “We gotta get out of here.”

“Why?” Yugi asked, a little languid from the late hour and from emotional exhaustion caused by stimulating music.

“There are people here that I know and I don’t want to stop and talk to them, that’s why,” he growled lowly. 

“Oh, so you wanted to show me off at the restaurant and now you’re ashamed of me?” Yugi teased, but he did his best to descend the stairs with relative haste.

“You got it. Can’t be caught dead with your pasty dweeb ass.”

Yugi laughed, and the two managed to leave the building without incident. They climbed into the back of the limo (arranged in case Seto had decided to partake of the venue’s wine), and relaxed against the fine leather seats. Yugi wriggled closer, and Seto didn’t hesitate to take him under his arm again.

“All theatrics aside, I really enjoyed myself tonight,” Yugi murmured, tenderly stroking the breast of Seto’s jacket, and then arching up for a kiss.

“Good,” Seto replied softly against Yugi’s lips. “I did, too.”

As the car began moving, they basked in the comfortable silence. Eventually, Yugi ended sitting sideways in Seto’s lap, his head tucked beneath Seto’s chin and his sleepy breaths puffing against Seto’s neck. Seto stroked his hair, rubbed down his back gently as Yugi’s breathing evened out and he went slack against Seto’s chest. 

Seto sighed, held one of Yugi’s limp hands in his own. So small, so warm, so strong.

He shook his head at himself. He was a fucking idiot when he was younger. How could else could he have seen Yugi and thought him weak?

Yugi had wiggled under Seto’s plated, icy armor and made himself a home there. And as Seto watched the city lights streak by through the window, all he could think about was how he enjoyed the warmth.

* * *

“Yugi,” he murmured softly, petting those warm, smooth cheeks. “We’re home.”

Yugi’s brows furrowed a moment, and he nuzzled sleepily into Seto’s shoulder.

“Wake up,” Seto said. “C’mon. We can’t sleep in the limo.”

Yugi stirred, but once again fell into tranquility. Seto frowned at that peaceful face. He shake Yugi, shout. But he couldn’t bear to disturb his rest any more than he already had. So, with an eye roll, he scooted along the leather seats and carefully stepped out of the limo. Roland watched from where he stood holding the door open, all of his muscles tensed, ready to help at the slightest sign.

“Open the door for us, Roland.” A phantom pain of Yugi’s razor-blade elbow digging into his rib ghosted along his nerves, and he quickly added, “Please.”

Roland gave a tight nod, “Of course, Master Kaiba.”

“... Thank you.”

And then they were crossing the threshold, and in the sitting room just off to the side of the entryway, sat Sugoroku Muto. He was reading a book in the light of an end table lamp, reading glasses sitting at the end of his nose. He looked up when Roland closed the door. Seto met his eyes and tensed -- Yugi grumbling in protest in his arms -- but the old man only smiled.

“He… fell asleep on the ride home,” Seto explained awkwardly.

“I’m sure he had fun,” Sugoroku said, and his violet eyes twinkled and Seto realized where Yugi had gotten it from.

“He did,” Seto responded. And then there was awkward silence -- mostly on Seto’s part, since the old man had gone back to reading his book. So Seto walked away, Yugi still cuddled to his neck. Thankfully, his bedroom door was open, so he only had to walk through and gently set Yugi on the bed. He turned back to close the door, and went about changing into his sleepwear before he even started thinking about the feat of getting Yugi into his.

Clad in pajamas, he approached the curled figure on his bed. 

“Yugi,” he called softly, running a hand through the wild hair and pulling it free from its tie. “You’re not going to sleep in that suit.”

Yugi sighed sleepily, mumbling something, but he arched into Seto’s touch with a happy hum.

Seto groaned, a little exasperated, but started to undo the buttons on Yugi’s suit jacket anyway. “You better count yourself lucky I like you so much, brat.”

“I do,” Yugi murmured, barely coherent. “I’m the luckiest,” he slurred.

“Jesus Christ. How am I supposed to stay mad at you when you say shit like that?” Seto hissed, mostly to himself as he manipulated Yugi’s body to remove the jacket. He was limp like a doll, but he still made the occasional groan of protest when he didn’t like his arms moved this way or his torso lifted at a certain angle. “Good fucking thing you didn’t have any wine tonight.”

“‘M really tired,” he mumbled back.

“No fucking shit, Captain Obvious.” 

Somehow, he managed to get Yugi down to his boxers and tucked beneath the covers. “That was a fucking debacle I don’t want to repeat any time soon.”

“Seto,” Yugi called sleepily. “Cuddle me again.”

“Just a damn minute. You’re more demanding than I am.” He flipped off the lights and slipped beneath the sheets.Yugi was snoring again by the time he draped an arm over him and dragged him into his chest. 

But Seto was smiling softly, petting that hair again and listening to Yugi hum appreciatively in his sleep. “Seto…”

He dreamed of cellos and violins and Yugi’s hand in his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, another short chapter. But I felt like this was a good place to stop before diving into more material. Also, I don’t know if the genre Fluff Without Plot, or FWP, exists already, but, if it didn’t, it does now.   
> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! See ya next time!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of Platonic!puzzleshipping in this chapter. And mentions of DSOD events

Warmth stretched all around him, an endless sea upon which he willingly drifted. But there were no waves, only this soft, glowing aura wrapped about him, accompanied that scent, spicy and masculine and utterly divine. He sighed happily, fingers curling into smooth, slippery material. He met firmness and warmth and softness when he nuzzled. 

“Seto…” he whispered, ecstatic and languid and tapering into an airy breath.

The groan that answered him vibrated through him softly, tickled his nerves, and he squirmed a little, nose wrinkling. A big hand, slender fingers, carded gently through his hair and stroked tenderly down the bare skin of his back. The pads of fingertips teased his senses, left tingling streaks behind, and he arched appreciatively beneath the touches. 

“Yugi…” deep and raspy and rough with sleep. Yugi shivered at the breath that ghosted down his neck, along the fine hairs there. 

Yugi nuzzled until he found bare skin, upon which he slowly puckered his lips. A collarbone, smooth and warm and hard and shapely. He sighed again, imagined his hot, damp breath fogging against that flesh like it would on glass. “Morning…” he hummed instead, happily twining his legs with Seto’s. He rubbed a toe on a silk-clad calf. In fact, he could feel the silk all the way up his thigh. “Why am I in my underwear?” he asked on a sleepy breath. His tone was entirely playful.

“Because you were being a brat last night,” Seto responded immediately. “No way in hell I was going to try to wrestle you into a pair of pants.”

Yugi frowned against Seto’s neck. “I’d definitely rather you wrestle me  _ out of  _ a pair of pants.”

The snort that huffed from Seto’s nose ruffled the hair lying on Yugi’s forehead. “Trust me, it was not as fun as it sounds.” 

Yugi hummed a chuckle. “We’ll have to try it again when I’m coherent.” The hand on Yugi’s back stilled, then continued with its slow petting. Yugi held his breath for a moment, suddenly awake. “Seto…?”

A strangled grunt. “Hn?”

“What am I to you…?” Yugi murmured, so quietly that if they weren’t pressed so closely together, Seto might’ve never heard it. “What are we?”

He could  _ hear _ Seto’s gulp, and heard his lips part and his short breath. “I’d like to think that we’re… together. Dating. Going steady,” Seto said quietly, and he kept petting Yugi’s back. “That is, if you’re willing.”

Yugi chuckled. “I am. One-hundred-percent willing.” He nuzzled Seto’s jaw. His lips fluttered along the defined bone, the warm, smooth flesh. “I’ve never wanted anything more.” Up, until their noses were brushing, and he was holding himself above Seto, a single hand braced on his chest. Yugi felt his long bangs hang down and skim pillows and skin. “Boyfriends?”

“As much as I fucking  _ hate _ that word,” Seto began, his hand settling on Yugi’s hip. “Yeah. Boyfriends.”

“Boyfriends,” Yugi repeated, feeling his grin widen until it felt like it was going to split his cheeks open. “Seto Kaiba is my  _ boyfriend _ ,” he whispered, leaning down, pressing his lips to the warm ones just below. They pressed back, reciprocated softly, eagerly. 

Yugi hummed, delighted, his hand sliding up to cup Seto’s smooth jaw, to feel it work slowly with their seeping, melting kisses. He could feel the warmth of Seto’s cheeks, no doubt blushing from his playful quip. The hand on Yugi’s hip migrated up. The pads of Seto’s fingers traced up Yugi’s spine, made him shiver but arch into the touch. Those long fingers reached the hair spilling over Yugi’s shoulders and ducked under, and then that big, hot hand was cupping the back of his neck. 

“Seto,” he mewled against the other’s lips when he felt those fingers twine into his hair and grip just the slightest amount. 

And then Seto’s other hand was splayed on Yugi’s bare ribs -- all hot and desperately grasping, and Seto was whirling, rolling, the hand on the back of Yugi’s neck cushioning the impact. Yugi gasped, his hand falling down to brace against Seto’s chest, and Seto held himself just above him and slowly kissed down his neck. 

Yugi hummed appreciatively and tilted his head back. But those lips were moving, lifting away, and a big hand was stroking through his hair again.

“You’re hair is getting so crazy,” Seto chuckled.

Yugi snorted. “ _ Getting crazy _ ? As if it weren’t already there before I started growing it out.”

“Touche,” Seto said, voice thick with amusement and the dregs of sleep. “But really, it’s getting even more so.” A wobbling breath, a stifled laugh. “I like it, though.”

“I’ve noticed,” Yugi murmured. “You can’t seem to keep your hands away from it.”

An embarrassed grumble. “No lie there, I guess.”

“I like that you like it,” Yugi murmured, hands sliding up to twine around Seto’s neck. “I love it when you play with it.”

“Noted,” Seto breathed. A butterfly kiss -- fluttering and brief, and he moved to sit up. But Yugi held on tight, rather like a sloth to a tree branch. “C’mon, we should get up.”

“Just a few more kisses,” Yugi begged, sweetly caressing the back of Seto’s neck with his thumbs. 

Seto grumbled something, but it didn’t matter, because he leaned down again.

Yugi hummed happily, his toes curling into the sheets. 

Seto kisses were the best way to start the day, by far. 

* * *

Yugi knew that there had been four major waves of media uproar surrounding the circumstances in the past half year or so:

The first occurred when it became public knowledge that, yes, the game shop had burned down (it had become somewhat locally famous since he gained his ‘King of Games’ status). 

The second occurred when it became public knowledge that, yes, he was in fact permanently blind because of the incident. There was even a huge protest, demanding that the companies that had built the game shop and other buildings like it do abatement as soon as possible and free of charge. That, apparently, didn’t go over well, but now there was an awareness for it that hadn’t existed before. 

The third occurred when it became public knowledge that, yes, Yugi was now under legal contract to support KaibaCorp products and vice versa.

The fourth occurred when it became public knowledge that, yes, Yugi and his grandfather had taken up residence at the KaibaCorp manor.

Which sparked all sorts of wild conspiracies and topics, if one watched those ridiculous channels that followed celebrities’ every moves, or if one followed online fan groups and websites or whatnot. Little to Yugi’s knowledge (since  _ something _ or  _ someone _ managed to keep the media from directly interfering with his recovery rather efficiently), there was already speculation that Seto Kaiba and Yugi Muto were now in a relationship of a more romantic kind. Most of it was dismissed as wildly unlikely and utterly ridiculous.

That was, however, until the photos were leaked that revealed the truth.

Hence came the fifth surge of media uproar.

Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba, having dinner at an expensive restaurant. Yugi Muto, hanging off of Seto Kaiba’s arm at the local theater. Seto Kaiba, intimately touching Yugi Muto’s face at said theater. All photos from different anonymous sources, too.

Rumors: confirmed with flying colors.

After surveying the net reaction from several popular media outlets on his ride to work, Seto Kaiba couldn’t say that he was all too surprised to see the paparazzi ambush awaiting him at KaibaCorp Tower. 

“Mister Kaiba!”

“Mister Kaiba, are the photos real?”

Flashes, so many flashes that left multi-colored spots on the back of his eyelids, but he remained stoic. 

“Are the rumors regarding your relationship with Yugi Muto true?”

Luckily for him, he towered over most of the people crowding near him. “Any of you lay a finger on me, and I’m pressing charges,” he rumbled, and, like a charm, the bubble of space around him grew a precious foot or so.

“Sir, is Yugi Muto your boyfriend?”

He strode through them, and they parted like the Red Sea for Moses, although the shrill questions continued.

Right as he was about to enter the building, a flustered, frenzied journalist cried, “Mister Kaiba, do you have  _ anything _ to say?”

He paused, though the KaibaCorp doors had already slid open for him. He turned, and, like magic, all the “journalists” became dead silent. They were strained, poised to lock anything that might pass from his lips into their memory for later melodramatic recounting.

“Yes, actually, I  _ do  _ have something to say,” wry and sneering, but the crowd became all that much more quiet and eager. He snorted. “If you put half as much energy into reporting  _ real _ stories with  _ real _ consequences, instead of trying to stick your noses into people’s personal lives, this world would be a much better place to live in.” 

Stunned silence. 

“Half-wits,” he snapped, and strode into the building. 

Seto Kaiba didn’t mind  _ actual  _ journalists and reporters -- the ones concerned with his products, about the welfare of his workers and the customers buying his products, or even the ones that were wondering just what KaibaCorp facilities were doing to reduce their conglomerate impact on the environment. They had  _ actual _ concerns with  _ actual _ consequences. 

But  _ those _ , the heathens pressing up against the glass of the building to get  _ just one more picture  _ of the famous CEO, were just sensationalist scum.

And his day had started on such a damn good note, too.

* * *

As omnipotent as Seto Kaiba liked to think himself to be, he could not keep the paparazzi away from Yugi forever. 

“Yugi,” Michael said low, close to his ear, as he made to leave Joey’s apartment. “I fear we have company outside.”

“Paparazzi?” he asked with a sigh.

“Yes.”

“Okay,” he shrugged. “I trust you to keep me safe. I don’t see how it will be a problem,’ he said back. 

Michael said nothing, only keep a hand on Yugi’s shoulder as they walked down the hallway to the vestibule.

“See ya, Yug’!”

“See you, Joe!” Yugi called back. His next words were quiet, for Michael’s ears only. “I hope you don’t mind driving me around to visit my friends. I know it’s probably boring for you though.”

Michael chuckled. “Boring is better, in my experience. I’d prefer driving you around to meet your friends to fighting off armed men any day.”

Yugi laughed. “That’s true. ‘Excitement’ is probably a bad word for a bodyguard like you.”

“It is,” he agreed. “Excitement is good for a vacation but not for the workplace.”

“Can I be candid with you, Michael?” Yugi asked, stopping at the stairs leading down to the apartment vestibule.

“Of course, Yugi.”

“I don’t say this with the thought that someday you will be fired, or anything negative like that. But, if you ever move on in your career, you know, find a better opportunity for you and your family, I would be more than willing to be a good reference for future employment.” He winked, and Michael found the whole thing to be rather ironic. “Just thought I’d let you know.”

Michael simply stared at Yugi. Yes, he looked down to see Yugi, who was much smaller in stature in build, but he wondered if he’d ever looked up to another human being more than he looked up to Yugi Muto. “That… that means a lot, Yugi.”

A recommendation from Yugi Muto would probably carry a lot of weight if he were to ever go onto the open job market again. And while, of course, Yugi had his own merit, Michael knew for a fact that any decision Yugi made would be backed by Seto Kaiba. 

Michael gulped. 

“Like I said, I don’t mean that I think you’ll have any bad reasons for leaving, but, even if you do, I would still rally in your corner, you know?” He lifted his shoulders. “Anyway, let’s get this show on the road, yeah?”

“... Okay.”

Within seconds, they were among the heaving throngs. 

“Mister Muto!”

“Mister Muto, the photos--”

“Seto Kaiba --”

“ -- relationship --”

Though it was probably unprofessional, Michael smiled the whole way to the car and then some. 

* * *

“Damn paparazzi,” Seto hissed when the topic was brought up later. “I fucking hate them with every ounce of my being.”

Yugi shrugged. “They’re just doing their jobs.”

“Well, they should get better fucking jobs.”

“It doesn’t always work like that,” Yugi responded. “For some of them, this might have been the only job in the field that they could get.”

Seto grumbled, and Yugi just laughed. 

“Well, just think of it from a community ecology perspective. Wherever there is a niche, there is an organism to fill it,” Yugi continued.

“I hate the fact that there’s a damn niche for it, too,” Seto growled. “People should just mind their own damn business and leave me alone with mine.”

“It’s true that we live in a society that objectifies the rich and famous as a source of entertainment and stimulation. But, I think that’s a small price for the rich and famous to pay,” Yugi said, frowning himself. “In fact, that’s how many of them make their money.”

“Coming from someone who is rich and famous,” Seto scoffed, shaking his head.

Yugi held up a finger. “I may be famous, but I’m not famous.”

Seto arched an eyebrow. “Have you checked your checking account balance lately?”

And then Yugi gulped and chuckled sheepishly. Then his face fell blank, and he was thinking a moment. 

“Is it ethical? For us to be in a relationship while I’m on your payroll?”

Seto rolled his eyes. “Now you’re worried about that? Listen, you work for your money. I’ve never seen a model so patient for photoshoots and promotionals. Our relationship is completely separate to that. If it still bothers you, we can sever the contract.”

“I’m not sure if it does,” Yugi admitted quietly.

“Well, think on it. I don’t care either way, now,” he said, and he slowly stepped up to Yugi and placed his hands on Yugi’s cheeks. “I’ve still got you whether you’re an employee or not.”

And Yugi beamed. Those unnerving violet eyes were affixed on Seto’s face. “That you do.” They leaned together for a slow, chaste kiss, and then they were pulling away. “Well, I wouldn’t have anything productive to do if we severed our contract.” 

“You wanted to make your own games, didn’t you?” Seto asked quietly.

Yugi’s lips twisted to the side. “Yes. I mean, I still could, but…” Then he smiled and lifted his shoulders. “I should probably start thinking about it again. I could probably think of ways to make games that would be just as much fun for the blind, you know?”

Seto felt himself smile back, and he stroked a hand through Yugi’s hair. “I’m sure you will. I’ll be very interested to listen to any ideas you’ll have.”

Yugi feigned a gasp, though he was leaning into the petting touch like a cat into a scratch behind the ear. “I always knew you had ulterior motives.”

“Yes, because the best way to make money off of you was by dating you,” Seto scoffed.

They shared a chuckle, but Yugi’s face grew serious. “It means a lot that you have so much faith in me.”

“It’s not faith,” Seto said quietly. “I’ve seen your tenacity too many times to count. I  _ know _ you will do whatever you set your mind to. I have too much evidence for it to be simply  _ faith _ .”

“Oh, Seto,” Yugi whispered, touching Seto’s cheeks, and Seto was sure he could probably feel the warmth in them. And they were kissing softly again, lips fluttering like butterflies.

“Agh!” came the cry from the other side of the kitchen. “Mine eyes! Mine innocent eyes!” Mokuba yowled, holding his hands over his fiercely red face. “This shall scar me forever!”

Though Seto was quick to pull away from the embrace, he frowned over to his little brother. “Says the young man who’s used the family network to watch some rather questionable videos.” And Mokuba’s eyes widened, horrified, mortified. “Yes, don’t think I don’t know about it.”

“Seto!” Yugi gasped, slapping an open palm on the taller man’s chest.

“He started it,” Seto grumbled.

“And you escalated it far beyond appropriate!” Yugi hissed back. 

It was safe to say that everyone’s face was a bright shade of red.

Mokuba was gone, off to skulk and lick his wounds in much-needed privacy.

“Just saying. He should know better. He has a personal computer. I don’t know why he used one tied to the manor network. It records search histories and everything. He didn’t even bother to use an incognito tab,” Seto continued to grumble. 

“You’re evil,” Yugi admonished, giggling a little now, pressing his face to Seto’s sternum. “Savage. Shoot-to-kill.”

“And you  _ just _ figured this out?”

“I  _ never _ thought you would use it on Mokuba.”

“I was flustered. I was working on pure instinct at that point.”

“I didn’t realize that  _ the _ Seto Kaiba got flustered so easily.”

Seto was silent a moment, and he was sure his blush was crawling down his chest and climbing up to his ears. “When it comes to Mokuba seeing that side of me, I do,” he admitted quietly.

“What?” Yugi’s hands slid up to play with the collar of Seto’s shirt, and a playful grin curled his lips. “Affectionate? But in the… romantic way?” he cooed, sidling closer.

Seto gritted his teeth. “I’ve never dated anyone before. I’ve… but not…”

Yugi’s grin softened into a smile. “I get it, but you don’t have to explain yourself to me.” He arched up to brush their noses together. “I was just milking the moment. It’s too entertaining to poke fun at you.”

“It’s nice to know that my discomfort and misfortune offers at least  _ something _ to you,” he grumbled back, and pinched Yugi in the side. It resulted in a rather satisfying yelp. 

“Hey!” Yugi laughed, wriggling from Seto’s grasp. “It’s only fair! I  _ know _ that you’ve taken pleasure in my struggles in the past.”

“Hey, I was a douche back then.”

“Like you aren’t one now! Look what you just did to Mokuba!”

“I already stated that was in self-defense.”

“Talk about excessive force.”

“Civilians can’t use excessive force. Only police and other militant authorities.”

The playful bickering continued until dinner. Which Mokuba did show up for, and no one brought up the incident in the kitchen again.

* * *

But Seto still thought about parts of the conversation as they prepared for bed. Settling into the sheets in the near-dark, Seto looked up at the ceiling.

“Do you miss playing Duel Monsters?” he asked quietly, almost a whisper, as if speaking any louder would somehow disturb the warmth beneath the sheets or break the darkness about them.

“Of course,” Yugi replied, just as quiet. “My life  _ revolved _ around Duel Monsters for many years. Of course I miss it. How couldn’t I?”

“Hn,” Seto responded, though he made sure his tone indicated that he wouldn’t mind if Yugi continued talking.

“It wasn’t the same after… after…” a tight breath, “... but I still loved to play.”

“I imagine that it would be different.” That was all he could do. Imagine. Because he had no idea what it was like, and nothing of reference to even compare it to.

“I mean… it was something that… that  _ we _ did together,” Yugi whispered. “I learned so much from him.” He laughed, bittersweet. “He was like the big brother I always wished that I had.” Seto could  _ hear _ Yugi’s gulp. For a strange moment, he thought about how the dark put them on equal footing. “It… I’m going to be honest with you. I really fucking hated you for what you did, when it was happening,” Yugi said quickly, and the strangled quality of his voice made Seto’s heart seize in his chest more than the words themselves.

“I was  _ trying so hard _ . Trying so hard to get over it,” Yugi sniffled. “I’m sure they all thought I did. I didn’t say anything about it. Kept on smiling every day like nothing happened. Because I knew if I brought it up, I would turn into a sobbing mess.” His voice wobbled as if to demonstrate the point. “I thought it was so selfish of me. I thought I  _ should’ve been happy _ . Happy that he moved on, happy that he finally got to rest after all he had done and all he had been through. Happy that he would get to live on his own instead of living vicariously through me.” A choked inhale, and Seto reached out to stroke Yugi’s hair and back. “But I wasn’t. I was so torn up inside. And I thought, maybe, just maybe, I had put it all back together, and you came around like a bat out of hell with talk of bringing him back and…” a half-sob, “... and I realized that I wasn’t and I hated you for it.”

Seto pressed a kiss to Yugi’s temple, embraced him, comforted him as he tried so valiantly not to cry.

“I’d say sorry, but… I wasn’t. At the time, I didn’t care,” Seto said. “I am now, though,” he whispered into Yugi’s hair. “I’m sorry,” his voice was soft, almost crooning. “You’re not selfish. ‘Yugi Muto’ and ‘selfish’ don’t belong in the same sentence together, period. You have every right to feel how you felt. Trust me, I’m an expert on selfish behavior. I know what I’m talking about.”

“No, no,” Yugi whimpered back. “Don’t say that. You’ve never said it, but I know all you have done was so that Mokuba could live his life without worrying ever again.” His hand was stuttering as it petted Seto’s shirt, but Seto appreciated the sentiment. “You’re not selfish. You wouldn’t have helped me if you were selfish.”

“Of course you think so,” Seto replied softly, a fond smile curling his lips. “You always see the best in everyone.”

A wet laugh, and they snuggled closer.

“How could I not with you? Seto Kaiba  _ always _ gives it his best,” Yugi said, playful and affectionate.

“Damn straight. Don’t you forget it.”

With a few more kisses and soft words, they settled to sleep. 

And as Seto drifted off, he thought about how he had some very important phone calls to make the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess it was about damn time that I broached the subject of Atem.   
> Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I’ll see ya next time!


End file.
